SM, Ever Bilena join hands for NU's women's title bid

MANILA, Philippines - National U hopes to crowd traditional powers Adamson, Far Eastern University and University of Santo Tomas in this year’s UAAP women’s basketball wars.

With Ever Bilena coming in as the team’s new backer in partnership with Herbert Sy of the SM Group of Companies, the Lady Bulldogs are raring to strut their wares against the fancied teams in the fold.

“Mr. Herbert Sy and I have forged an agreement that we’re going to make NU a champion team and we have already started to rebuild the team. Hopefully, we can make our presence felt in the coming UAAP season,” said Ever Bilena chair and CEO Dioceldo Sy.

The Ever Bilena chief is bringing in his vast wealth of basketball experience to the team being the former “godfather” of the RP women’s youth team. Sy also chaired the Philippine Basketball League (PBL) before where he sponsored various teams.

Former PH Youth standout Paul Du has been tapped to handle the team with former University of the Philippines star Patrick Aquino as consultant.

As part of their build-up, the Lady Bulldogs – bannered by Kay Alla, Roselyn Santos, Melody Oriel, Lalai Bonleon and Joi Tolentino – will leave today for Cebu for a series of exhibition matches at the San Carlos gym and at the same conduct tryouts to further firm up the squad.

After the Cebu stint, the Lady Bulldogs – as arranged by Johnson Martines – will play several exhibition games in Taiwan in April and Singapore in June to further polish their skills.

Also expected to provide additional firepower to the team are Mitch Oliva and Marga Dagdagan - both product of Ateneo de Davao program and 5-foot-11 CJ Seno from Mindoro.