The bragging rights as inaugural Women’s National Basketball League will be on the line when the Taguig Lady Generals battle PSI Air Lady Air Force Defenders in the best-of-three finals starting this Sunday at the Bren Z. Guiao Convention Center in San Fernando, Pampanga.
Coaches and players of both teams assert they are up to the task heading to Game 1 of the title series which will be aired live on Solar Sports starting at 1:30 p.m. and through the NBL Philippines Facebook page at facebook.com/nblphl).
“Sabi nga kung may tiyaga, may nilaga. At sana nga makuha naming 'yung nilagang sinasabi,” said Lady Generals coach Melencio Mendoza.
“Since Day 1 goal talaga namin is makasama sa finals. Kahit mahaba ang journey sa ligang ito, yun ang focus namin, to be ready sa finals,” Lady Air Defenders counterpart Diana Carandang said for her part.
The two coaches appeared in the weekly Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum on Tuesday at the Amelie Hotel-Manila where they are joined by Taguig players Dianne Marie Gelisan, Marilourd ‘Soc’ Borja, and Vangie Soriano and the PSI trio of Ambie Almazan, Anna Regina Buendia, and Katherine Sandel.
The Lady Generals beat the Lady Air Defenders in their sole meeting in the eliminations, but everything is now water under the bridge with the stakes higher in the finals.
“Ginawa naming lesson learned para sa amin yun going to the finals,” said Carandang in the session also presented by San Miguel Corp., Braska Restaurant, Amelie Hotel, and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation.
The Lady Air Defenders are on a roll going to the title series as they completed a three-game sweep of no. 1 team Philippine Navy Sailors in the crossover semifinals despite being only the fourth seeded team.
The second seed Lady Generals meanwhile, survived no. 3 Cleon and Clyde Lady Snipers in a do-or-die Game three in the other semis pairing as they missed the services of their top two scorers in national players Janine Pontejos and France Mae Cabinbin, who both suited up for Gilas Pilipinas women’s team in the FIBA Women’s Asia Cup in Bangalore, India recently.
Pontejos leads the WNBL in scoring with 23.1 points per game average, while Cabinbin is the league’s assist leader with 7.7 average per outing.
“Mahirap kasi key players namin 'yung nawala. Iba yung laro kapag nandiyan sila at iba rin 'yung laro kapag wala sila,” said Borja of the Lady Generals’ two guest players. “Kaya ang ginawa namin last game team effort lang kasi nawalan ka ng 20-30 points yung wala silang dalawa.”
Borja finished with 13 points and 11 rebounds in the Lady Generals’ victory in the deciding Game 3.
The Lady Air Defenders also has a guest player in Gilas women’s stalwart Gemma Miranda, the two-time UAAP finals MVP who was also part of the national team in the FIBA Women’s Asia Cup. She is the league’s second leading scorer behind Pontejos with an average of 20.3 points per game.
And despite her absence, the Lady Air Defenders showed that they can win following their stunning upset of the Lady Sailors in the Final Four.
“Malaking bagay na naka-deliver kami nu'ng Final Four. Tingin naming magiging advantage namin 'yun going to the finals,” said Almazan, a former national team member and two-time UAAP regular and finals MVP, who averaged a double-double of 14.3 points and 12.8 rebounds for PSI.