GANDANG GRAND SLAM
(December 19, 2008)

Ever Bilena became the first ever Women's PBL grand slam champion - albeit needing 10 years to turn the coveted trick. Marichu Bacaro, the UAAP Season 71 most valuable player, led the Gandang Pinay to a thrilling 64-60 victory and the 2009 WPBL PG Flex Cup championship over Smart Buddy UP at the Guadalupe Viejo Sports Complex. It was a two-game sweep by the Pat Aquino-mentored Gandang Pinay with former PBL Chair Dioceldo Sy cheering from the Ever Bilena bench in their signature company pink shirt.

"It looks like the RP Team can learn something from us. We have four or five players who could easily be on the RP Team, especially Marichu. This is indeed a very special team," declared Sy in a post-game interview. "Marichu Bacaro is the Allen Iverson of Ever Bilena, she is really a special player," he added

Smart Buddy seemed to have the game well in hand as UP Lady Maroon veterans Fats Tolentino, Andrea Stevens and Fille Cainglet conspired to give Smart its first double-digit lead at 34-23. Former UE star Abby Cabral helped stymie Bacaro's game with her pesky defense, compounding the Ever Bilena woes. Nikki Leonardo nailed a buzzer-beating trey to end the first half but the Lady Maroons still took a 36-27 lead into the lemon time break.

Down by as much as 12 early in the third period 39-27, Bacaro conspired with fellow Santo Tomas star Rem Buenacosa and pretty Cebuana recruit Aiumi Ono to bring the Gandang Pinay within 50-51 with still some four minutes left in the payoff fourth period. Ono was playing hard on both ends as she also shadowed fellow basketball beauty and prolific UP forward Sai Sadorra. A couple of freethrows by Buenacosa and Bacaro and a trey by Elaine Orillano suddenly made it a 57-51 bubble.

Smart fought back behind Tolentino's dominance down low and the play-making of Stevens and Cainglet to make it 57-61 time down to about a minute. Danielle Bautista made it 59-61 on a hard drive to the rack but was subsequently whistled for a holding foul on Bacaro. Bacaro sank both freethrows to give the Gandang Pinay some breathing room. Anna Asistio was sent in cold off the bench by Smart mentor Eric Castro to try and nail a trey but both of her attempts fell way off target.

Bacaro was named most valuable player and was joined on the Mythical 5 by Ono. Also in the Mythical 5 were Tolentino, Sadorra and Nutri-C Ateneo center Cassandra Tioseco.

"We hope this will be the start of something bigger for the WPBL, so that they will have their own identity. Hindi namin akalain na ganito kaganda magiging turnout," said PBL Commissioner Chino Trinidad after the awarding ceremonies. "Hopefully the WPBL will have its own set of officers, its own commissioner, its own staff some day," he added.

Back to top