A Fil-Am player based in the United States is set to join the Perlas Pilipinas training pool.
Daniela Nopuente, a 5’5” guard from Our Lady of the Lake University Saints, will be arriving in Manila on Thursday to reinforce the Perlas Pilipinas team currently training for the upcoming FIBA Asia Women’s Cup and Southeast Asian Games this year.
Nopuente averaged 7.6 points and shot 47 percent from downtown for the Saints in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics. She’s the all-time leading scorer of Westmoor High School, scoring a total of 2,400 points during her high school career.
Nopuente will become the 18th member of the Perlas Pilipinas pool. But coach Patrick Aquino said she has yet to cement her place in the final lineup.
“No one is assured of a spot at this time,” said Aquino who steered Perlas Pilipinas to the SEABA women’s crown last year. “We want everybody on the team to fight for spots.”
Perlas Pilipinas is scheduled to leave at the end of April to train in Malaysia.
Teaming up with Nopuente are Perlas Pilipinas mainstays Allana Lim, Afril Bernardino, Arra Abaca, Cindy Resultan, Ambi Almazan, Janine Pontejos and Camille Sambile, among others.
The Perlas Pilipinas has been training for more than a month now, and Aquino is trying to figure out ways to help the squad compete against taller opponents.
“Yung Japan, if you look at their line up, hindi rin naman sila ganun kalalaki, but they’re a disciplined team. That’s what we want to emulate,” added Aquino. “We would work on our strength which is our speed and shooting.”