THANKS TO their tenacious defense and teamwork, FEU proved too overwhelming for the Lady Eagles as the Lady Tamaraws topped their Ateneo counterparts, 61-47, last July 13 at the Blue Eagle Gym in the 71st Season of University Athletics Association of the Philippines.
The defending champions, who are bannered by seven rookies and five holdovers, fell apart on the defensive end of the floor, allowing FEU to pull away for good in the final period. Captain Treena Limgenco (V BS CTM) proved to be the lone bright spot as she tried to spark the young Loyola-based dribblers with a hard-earned 17 points.
“It really just came down to miscommunications and the defense breaking down in the end,” said guard Mariana Lopa (III AB DS), after dealing with the tight pressure defense all day.
FEU maintained in control most of the game with their hard defense and slick teamwork, which gave them an 18-5 advantage in terms of assists. The Lady Eagles put up a strong effort in trying to cut down the lead and rally back throughout the game, only to be denied time and again on the offensive end.
“We failed to execute on offense and missed a lot of easy layups so we have to adjust to that,” said Rookie Coach Heidi Ong on the team’s breakdown. She also acknowledged that this is a rebuilding team and there is still a long way to go in the season.
The loss drops the defending champions to 0-2 and is now faced with a tough climb ahead to reach their goal of making the Final Four.
UST 65, Ateneo 57
With the departure of the core of Season 70’s championship team, including coach John Flores, the Ateneo Lady Eagles began their title-retention bid at the Blue Eagle Gym last July 6.
However, newly-appointed Head Coach Ong and the team’s debut was spoiled as the weathered veterans of perennial contender University of Santo Tomas (UST) handed them a 65-57 beating during their season opener.
In addition to the fact that more than half the team is composed of rookies, Coach Heidi pointed out that the team’s lack of height necessitated huge adjustments in the team’s system of play coming into the season.
“We don’t have a legitimate post [player] this season, so the training that we have is [geared] towards a run-and-gun system, which hopefully we can effectively execute in the succeeding games,” she said in a mix of Filipino and English.
Indeed, with the graduation of dominant centers Cassy Tioseco (MA Psy) and AJ Barracoso (AB DS ’08), and the departure of Crystal Ballentyne (II AB Hum) to Canada, there’s a gaping hole for the current Lady Eagles to fill.
In fact, they needed to adjust right from the opening tip, relying heavily on their perimeter shots as they were unable to penetrate the interior defense of UST.
But with their shots not finding the bottom of the net, the Lady Eagles faced a 0-12 deficit midway through the first quarter. The Tigresses, on the other hand, dominated the boards en route to several fast break points.
The Loyola cagebelles struggled to break into the scoring column as early foul trouble to four of its players hampered the rotation and early penalty situation added to their woes.
It took a Samantha Ong (I BS Psy) three at the 2:53 mark of the first quarter to give Ateneo its first points of the season – fuelling a run capped by a Limgenco layup and a Helena Indigne (IV AB MEco) put back to make it 10-17 at the end of the opening quarter.
The troika’s offense, coupled with the team’s renewed hustle and vigor, kept the Lady Eagles within striking distance for most of the game but their scoring runs came short of threatening UST’s lead.
Despite the loss, however, the team remains optimistic. Veteran guard Indigne pointed out, “For a new team, it was a good game.”
Coach Heidi shared these sentiments, attesting that considering the team’s composition, there was definitely room for improvement.
Indeed, the future looks bright as Ong, a rookie out of Immaculate Concepcion Academy, combined with team captain Limgenco in pacing the Lady Eagles with 16 and 14 points respectively, while Denise Tiu (I BS Psy) gave a commendable performance manning the shaded lane with 5 points and 9 rebounds.
“We didn’t win, but we played well,” attested Limgenco.
She added, “And though we didn’t make the shots we needed to win the game, we ended up playing as a team.”
The Lady Eagles also missed the services of last year’s prized rookie Sarah Mercado (II AB MEco) who is out for the season after suffering an ACL injury during the Nike Summer League last May.
