It was the opening weekend of the Puerto Rican league as a rematch of the finals started action on Friday. The Carolina Giants were able to replicate the result of their series last year against the Mayaguez Indians with a 67-56 win even with their best player in the WNBA. The Lajas Cardinals are the newest team in the league, but they got a rude introduction from the Manati Athenians, who beat them 89-40 with Damika Martinez making a strong debut. The hosts relied on their import players as their domestic core is still not at the level of the more established teams.
The other four teams started their seasons on Saturday. The Morovis Mountaineers beat the Santurce Crabbers 73-64. The trio of Jazmine Sepulveda, Pamela Rosado, and Shae Kelley led the way in the win as the hosts could have used some help for their imports as Kayla Thornton tried her best. The Aguada Santeras had a better debut in the league as they beat the Ponce Lionesses 76-53. They have a strong domestic player in Ali Gibson and have opted to pair her with a former college teammate in Deven Hunter to fill one of the import spots.
All teams were in action on Sunday. Mayaguez got their first win as the combination of Shalonda Winton and Ashley Prim led them past Jazmine Sepulveda and Morovis 77-74. Aguada managed to grind out a 52-49 win at Santurce. Tierra Henderson and Ponce continued giving Lajas a tough time in their first season as they won 84-34 even though Maria Blazejewski put in a big effort. A battle of unbeatens and early favorites went to Manati, which got good balance from their import players and their local stars in a 73-68 win over Carolina, although Jennifer O’Neill did have a great game.
August 12, 2016
Gigantes de Carolina vs. Indias de Mayaguez 67-56 CAR Rodriguez 17 O’Neill 13/6r/8a Jones 12/7r Walker 11/8r Jarosz 5/8r Quinones 5 Ruiz 2 Reyes 2 Falcon 0 Velazquez 0 MAY Prim 16 Winton 12/6r Thompson 11/14r Gonzalez 6 Barrientos 5 Batiz 4 Rosario 2 Figueroa 0 Colon 0
Cardinals de Lajas vs. Atenienses de Manati 40-89 LAJ Robinson 16/10r Blazejewski 13/6r Valentin 8/6r Franco 3 J. Diaz 0/7r K. Diaz 0 Hernandez 0 Garriaga 0 Cruz 0 MAN Martinez 22 Mosby 18/6r Garcia 12 Acevedo 9 Delgado 8 Morales 8 Tobin 4/12r/6a Pinero 4 Bermudez 2/9r Powell 2 Sanchez 0 Bough 0
August 13, 2016
Cangrejeras de Santurce vs. Montaneras de Morovis 64-73 SAN Thornton 21/14r Bright 17/6r Gonzalez 11/6r Diaz 6 Rosa 4 Cosme 3 Baez 2 Roman 0 Ramirez 0 Aviles 0 Davila 0 MOR Sepulveda 22/7r Rosado 20/6r Kelley 19/12r Dyer 6/10r Huertas 4 Alequin 2 Flores 0 Irizarry 0 Artau 0 Romero 0
Leonas de Ponce vs. Santeras de Aguada 53-76 PON Henderson 18 Gonzalez 15 Harris 15 Vaioletama 5/7r Placido 0/7r Maria 0 Lopez 0 Ventura 0 Tosado 0 Rodriguez 0 Hernandez 0 Garcia 0 AGU Hunter 19/20r Gibson 17 Munoz 11 Williams 10 Melendez 9/8r S. Rodriguez 7 Colon 2 D. Rodriguez 1 Emmanuelli 0/6a Marquez 0/6a Oleary 0
August 14, 2016
Indias de Mayaguez vs. Montaneras de Morovis 77-74 MAY Winton 30 Prim 22/6r/7a Thompson 12/11r Barrientos 7 Rosario 4/7r Gonzalez 2 Colon 0 Figueroa 0 Frias 0 MOR Sepulveda 27 Kelley 12/6r/8s Dyer 12 Flores 9 Rosado 7/6a Alequin 6/6r Huertas 1 Irizarry 0
Cangrejeras de Santurce vs. Santeras de Aguada 49-52 SAN Thornton 17/13r Bright 8 Gonzalez 8 Diaz 7 Rosa 5 Baez 2 Roman 2 Ramires 0 Aviles 0 Davila 0 Cosme 0 AGU Gibson 14/9r Munoz 11 Hunter 10/12r Melendez 9 Williams 4/13r Marquez 4 Emmanuelli 0
Leonas de Ponce vs. Cardinals de Lajas 84-34 PON Henderson 27/6a Placido 16/8r Harris 11 Maria 6/8r Garcia 5/8r Gonzalez 4 Vaioletama 4 Rodriguez 4 Lopez 3 Hernandez 2 Ventura 2 Tosado 0 LAJ Blazejewski 19/15r Hernandez 5 Robinson 4/10r Franco 4 J. Diaz 2 K. Diaz 0 Valentin 0 Garriaga 0 Cruz 0
Atenienses de Manati vs. Gigantes de Carolina 73-68 MAN Garcia 16 Tobin 15/8r Martinez 14 Mosby 8 Sanchez 6 Acevedo 5 Bermudez 4/6r Pinero 3 Morales 2 Delgado 0/7a CAR O’Neill 20/8a Jones 18 Walker 14/6r Jarosz 6/6r Quinones 3 Falcon 3 Gomez 2 Rodriguez 2 Ruiz 0 Reyes 0 Rivera 0