POOR SHOOTING and a flurry of turnovers told the story behind the Ateneo Lady Eagles’ 69-44 loss to the Adamson Lady Falcons in the noontime matchup, on July 31, at the Blue Eagle Gym.
Employing a daunting full-court press, the Lady Falcons took advantage of the Lady Eagles’ 30 turnovers, converting 24 points and handing the women of Loyola Heights their second loss of the season.
The early minutes of the first quarter featured six lead changes. Eventually, turnovers by Ateneo, hustle plays by Adamson and a three-pointer by Jezza Taroja with 30 seconds left on the clock put the Lady Falcons up, 14-9. From then on, Adamson was handling the reigns.
Two minutes into the second quarter, the lead ballooned to 18-9 after two consecutive baskets by the Lady Falcons. Unable to contain Adamson’s hot start, Ateneo allowed more offensive rebounds and easy second chance points. Sarah Mercado finally broke the Lady Eagles’ scoring drought as she tried to spur a run for Ateneo with six minutes to go; but consistent offense by Adamson would end the first half in their favor, 33-22.
With a renewed spirit, Ateneo returned after the half with a jumper by Sara Bo-ot. However, it would not be enough to contain Adamson’s hot hand as their lead ballooned to 15. Four minutes into the quarter, frustration began to seep in for the Loyola squad as Ish Tiu was tagged with an unsportsmanlike foul. The worst quarter for the home team ended with a large 22-point deficit, 52-30—Ateneo scoring only eight points compared to Adamson’s 19.
Eight successive points by Adamson—including back-to-back three-pointers—put the nail in the Lady Eagles’ coffin with four minutes remaining on the clock. Once again, Adamson dominated the boards and forced Ateneo to churn out more errors.
Despite the score, the Lady Eagles did not let up and remained competitive till the final whistle. Mercado and rookie center, Danica Jose, led the Lady Eagles with 14 and 10 points, respectively.
Although both teams shot similar percentages from the field, three-point shooting and second chance points handed the Lady Eagles their second loss of the season. Ateneo shot 0 from 12 from beyond the arc, compared to Adamson’s 7 out of 29. Adamson scored 12 second chance points while Ateneo only had four. The most notable statistic however was that the entire Adamson starting five scored in double-digits.
After the game Chris Quimpo, Lady Eagles head coach, said, “It was a terrible game; the team did not perform as expected. Passion is what we have to work on.”
“Perhaps we can attribute the loss to the youth of the team, composed of 5 rookies and 2 sophomores. The Ateneo sprit is a working process, and we’ll hope for better the next game,” he continued.
Despite their youth, the Ateneo Lady Eagles stand at 2-2, and are still in the run for a final four spot this season.
The Lady Eagles will next go up against the FEU Lady Tamaraws on Wednesday, August 3 at the Blue Eagle Gym, after the game was postponed last July 27 due to typhoon Juaning.
Scoring Leaders:
ADU, 69: Buendia 14, Ortega 11, Bernardo 11, Peñaranda 10, Balasta 10, Taroja 4, Baja 4, De Leon 3, Versoza 2, Paguio 0, Ong 0, Figueras 0, Buscas 0, Gadian 0, Avila 0, Taller 0
ADMU, 44: Mercado 14, Jose 10, Bo-ot 6, Tiu 4, Tantoco 2, Javier 2, Estrada 2, Dimaano 2, Chua 2, Aseron 0, Castro 0, Ong 0, Morales 0
Quarter scores: 14-9, 33-22, 52-30, 69-44
