THE ATENEO Lady Eagles lost to their arch rivals, the De La Salle University (DLSU) Lady Archers, 57-67 on Sunday, October 2, 2016 at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
The Katipunan-based squad finished the first round of the UAAP Women’s basketball tournament with two wins and five loses, while DLSU finished with six wins and a single loss.
The Lady Eagles were led by Jollina Go, who scored 18 points while shooting 42% from the floor and a perfect 6/6 clip from the free throw line. Akiko Tomita had a near double-double with 12 points and nine boards, and Hazelle Yam finished with 10 points and dished out five assists.
At the opposite side, the Lady Archers were top-scored by Camille Claro, who had 16 points while shooting 6/14 from the floor. Khate Castillo made 12 of her 15 points from behind the arc while Snow Penaranda had a monster game inside, finishing with eight markers and 16 rebounds.
The Lady Eagles raced to a 6-0 lead to start the game, with Katrina Guytingco, Yam, and Go contributing points to the team, but DLSU responded with a triple to end the run. The threes kept raining for the Lady Archers in the first quarter; they converted five in the first quarter alone. Pau Vela sank one in before the buzzer sounded to give DLSU a seven point lead to end the quarter (12-19).
The Taft-based squad started the second quarter with a 6-0 run that gave them a double-digit lead (12-25). Yam scored four straight points to stop the bleeding, but Vela banked in a triple from the right wing to regain the double digit lead for La Salle. The Lady Archers outscored Ateneo 6-4 after that to give them a 14 point lead (20-34) by halftime.
Ateneo and La Salle both started the second half slowly, but Tomita hit back-to-back baseline jumpers to open the account for the Lady Eagles. At the middle of the quarter, Yam dished to Go in the left wing and she converted from downtown, but Castillo responded with a triple of her own immediately. Guytingco made a sweet euro step lay up, plus the foul, that cut DLSU’s lead to 11. A few minutes after, Go converted an and-1 of her own that shrinked DLSU’s lead to just 7. Things were starting to look better for the Blue and White, as a free throw from Guytingco stemming from an unsportsmanlike foul cut the deficit down to four. DLSU ended Ateneo’s run with a triple with one minute remaining in the third, giving DLSU a seven-point lead (39-46) to begin the fourth quarter.
Rookie Boom Moslares swished in a three to cut the deficit down to four for Ateneo to begin the fourth quarter. After trading baskets, Chay Vergara hit a one from behind the arc that gave DLSU a seven-point lead. Later in the quarter, Go had a 6-0 solo run that cut La Salle’s lead to just three points (52-55), but Penaranda scored right after for DLSU to end Ateneo’s momentum. The Lady Eagles were hit with a technical foul moments later for their second infraction of improper bench decorum, and DLSU converted the technical free throw. Moslares hit her second three of the quarter, but the Lady Archers responded with a triple of their own with 58 seconds remaining in the game that brought their lead to eight (55-63). Claro scored four straight for DLSU to seal the game, and Go hit a pair free throws before the match ended.
The gap in three pointers made proved to be the difference for Lady Archers, as they made nine triples compared to Ateneo’s four. Turnovers were also an issue for the Lady Eagles. They gave the ball away 31 times which enabled DLSU to score some easy baskets on the fast break.
Quarter Scores: 12-19, 20-34, 39-46, 57-67
Box Scores:
Ateneo: Go- 18, Tomita- 12, Yam- 10, Guytingco- 7, Moslares- 6, Newsome- 4
DLSU: Claro- 16, Castillo- 15, Penaranda- 8, Vergara- 7, Vela- 6, Dagdagan- 4, Roxas- 4, Revillosa- 4, Nunez- 2, Arciga- 1
