Jack Animam tallied 17 points, 12 rebounds, and three assists to lead the five-time champions in the triumph.
Congolese center Rhena Itesi also did damage with 16 points, six boards, and three assists, as rookies Angel Surada, who had 10 points, six rebounds, three assists, and two steals, and Camille Clarin, who tallied 10 points, three boards, and three dimes, also impressed in their debuts.
"It was a hard win, rusty probably, overconfident, but the thing is we have to play double time against FEU," he said.
"Our players are still hesitant. We're coming up with a new system and they're still hesitant with that, but I just told them to play as hard as you can and everything will follow. That's what happened," he continued.
Fil-Am forward Kelli Hayes, who previously played for the UCLA Bruins, contributed four points, three rebounds, three steals, and two assists in her NU debut.
Clare Castro led FEU with 24 points, 10 rebounds, and five blocks, while Valerie Mamaril poured 16 points and two boards in the loss.
NU 80 -- Animam 17, Itesi 16, Surada 10, Clarin 10, Bartolo 8, Pingol 6, Del Carmen 5, Hayes 4, Canuto 4, Harada 0, Fabruada 0, Cacho 0, Cac 0.
FEU 60 -- Castro 24, Mamaril 16, Delos Santos 10, Quiapo 4, Jumuad 4, Bahuyan 2, Vidal 0, Padayon 0, Adriano 0, Bastatas 0, Antiola 0.
Quarterscores: 16-17, 22-25, 52-50, 80-60.
1st - Jack Animam, NU
2nd - Jack Animam, NU
3rd - Bert Flores, FEU head coach
4th - Maymay Canuto, NU
5th - Claire Castro, FEU
6th - Claire Castro, FEU
7th - Camille Clarin, NU
8th - Jay Delos Santos, FEU
9th - Kelli Hayes, NU
10th - Kelli Hayes, NU
11th - Rhena Itesi, NU
12th - Patrick Aquino, NU head coach
13th - KC Vidal