UNBEATEN Paranaque Lady Aces and Taguig Lady Generals gun for a piece of history as they dispute the first-ever Women’s National Basketball League (WNBL) championship this weekend at the Bren Z Guiao Convention Center in Pampanga.
Game 1 of the best-of-three Finals kicks off on Saturday with the Lady Aces heavily favored to as they enter the title series unbeaten in all of their 10 games from the elimination round onwards.
The streak included a pair of blowouts against the Lady Generals behind an average winning margin of 17.5 points, making Paranaque the top bet to run away with the inaugural title of the first and only women’s professional basketball league in the country.
The Lady Aces said the goal is never to stop until finally winning the crown which they declared in the online Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum on Tuesday along with the Lady Generals and WNBL-Pilipinas Executive Vice President Rhose Montreal.
“Our goal is to win the title and make history in the WNBL,” said national team stalwart Clare Castro, a double gold medal winner with the Gilas Pilipinas women’s 3×3 and 5-on-5 teams in the 2019 Southeast Asian Games.
Despite its glowing record, Paranaque made clear it is not looking past Taguig, which entered the playoffs as the second-seeded team with a 4-4 record.
“We mustn’t be complacent,” said Allana Lim, another mainstay of the national team. “We have to be focused all the time.”
Taguig may be up against the odds, but the Lady Generals are full of hope and confident in their ability to pull off a mighty upset.
“It’s a David vs Goliath,” Marichu Bacarro, a former University Athletic Association of the Philippines MVP out of University Santo Tomas, told the session presented by San Miguel Corp., Milo,, Amelie Hotel Manila, Braska Restaurant, and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. “We need to double our effort.”
“We play as a team, we don’t have superstars on the team,” said a charming Karla Manuel. “We follow our coaches’ system and double our effort in defense.”
Paranaque swept the Quezon Lady Spartans in the best-of-three semifinals, while Taguig edged Glutagence in the other Final Four pairing.
Montreal said Game 2 of the title series will be held Sunday with a winner-take-all Game 3, if necessary, set on December 11. The league will give out individual awards before Game 2.
She also said that the league’s first-ever 3×3 women’s pro tournament will be held on December 4 and 5 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. just before the finals between Paranaque and Taguig.
“This will be a very busy weekend for the women’s baller community,” said Montreal adding the 2021 league season is named in honor of senator and sportswoman Pia Cayetano.
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