The Women’s Premier Basketball Association opened their season on Sunday with a full slate of games at the Oakland Hills Campus. There had been plenty of exciting new names announced well before the season, but there were a couple of surprises right before the games began. The league added to their rookie class with a big local name when they were able to bring in Michelle Onyiah from Cal. Another local player with WNBA experience was added too when the league was able to bring in Morgan Bertsch after she did not make an opening day roster from training camp.
Wolves 62 Blaze 54
The league did not skimp on the opening day schedule, starting with a rematch of the championship game as the Wolves looked for some revenge against the Blaze with both teams having their share of roster changes. Rebecca Harris returned for the Wolves though and Michelle Onyiah made an impact in her first game to help them get a 62-54 win, closing the game on a 10-2 run after the score was tied at 52. Morgan Bertsch and Kaylin Randhawa, a rookie who has been coaching after her college career, paced the Blaze, and local rookie Isabella Mauricio made her debut too.
Wolves: Harris 21 Onyiah 13/12r Jackson 10 Glass 7/8r Huggins 5 Hall 4 Hester 2 Bulaya 0
Blaze: Randhawa 17/6r Bertsch 17 Mauricio 11/6r Pace 9 Moore 0 Dennis 0
Phoenix 73 Titans 68
The next two teams in the standings last season met in the next game and the story was Erica McCall as she was dominant for the Phoenix in a 73-68 win. The game was close throughout before their final 8-0 push late after the score was tied at 65. Northern California native Charity Gallegos started her rookie season in the win. The Titans were led by returnees Zhaine Duckett and Destiny Jackson, but also had rookies Brooke Donnelly and Genea Arnoldi.
Phoenix: McCall 36/15r Cedeno 10 Gallegos 8 Moore 7 Michelis 5 Parnell 3 Garrett 2 Tameilau 2 DeCosta 0 Johnson 0
Titans: Duckett 23/7r Des. Jackson 21 Richter 9/8r Huffhines 9 Pointer 4 Arnoldi 2 Dej. Jackson 0 Thompson 0 Donnelly 0 Baker-Bruce 0
Royals 87 Reign 76
Neither team in this game was at close to full strength, but the Royals fielded seven players who returned to the league after playing in it last year and got the win after taking a lead late in the first quarter. Jhaina Stephens was their leading scorer with Jasmin Guinn and Rokia Doumbia also having excellent games. The Reign were missing two of the bigger names in the league, but Crystal Primm, who joins the league from outside the area having had a number of successful seasons in Spain’s second division, had an excellent debut. Local rookie Alaiyah San Juan also made an early impact.
Royals: Stephens 23 Guinn 19/7r Doumbia 16/9r/10a Hart 13 Young 12 Haynes 2 Shafer-Gaad 2
Reign: Primm 28/19r San Juan 13 Monteleone 11 McNair 9 Yniguez 8 Hoyem 7
Swish 104 Riptide 71
The Riptide struggled last season and could not close the day with a victory, falling to the Swish in the most lopsided game of the day as the victors never trailed and the score was only tied once after tipoff. The Swish were led by players new to the league as Andriana Avent was excellent and Jada Lewis brought some overseas experience alongside rookies Cali Clark and local Zakiya Mahoney. The Riptide were led by Jolene Armendariz and also had other rookies debuting in Abby Cooper, Kam Shelley, and Alexis Durham.
Swish: Avent 32 Lewis 16 Mahoney 14/8r Clark 14 Guidry Brown 9/10r/7a/7s Jones 6 Cash 4 Berry 2
Riptide: Armendariz 16/6r Cooper 15 Buksh 12 Linzie 8/8r Aubry 5 Ikeora 4/8r Kong 4/6r Shelley 3 Privado 2 Durham 0
Leave a Reply