Photo by Kat A. Mallillin

AFTER FINISHING their first round of games strong, the Ateneo Lady Eagles went into their first matchup of the second round looking to build on their recent success. But, their plans were foiled as their opponents, the FEU Lady Tamaraws, battered them to a 67-49 loss on August 14 at the Blue Eagle Gym.

The first quarter was exhilarating with both teams neck-to-neck from start to finish. The Morayta-based squad took the lead early on, but the Lady Eagles eventually leapfrogged them. After 10 minutes of play, the score was 19-18, in favor of Ateneo.

Fouls committed was the main focal point in this cagey affair as Lady Eagles Sarah Mercado and Sara Bo-ot gave away three fouls apiece early in the second quarter. A dubious call prompted spirited reactions from the Ateneo Head Coach Chris Quimpo, who then got tagged with successive technical fouls, resulting in his untimely ejection in the closing seconds of the first half.

Disaster struck in the second quarter and it would prove to be the turning point of the match. The Lady Tamaraws held the ladies in blue to a solitary point as they went on a 9-1 run five minutes into the quarter. The first technical called on Quimpo occurred after the game buzzer rang because of what seemed to be a 24-second shot clock violation on FEU.

But the referees did not call it, which gave the Lady Tamaraws an open shot due to the confusion. Coach Q proceeded to discuss the issue crosscourt to the table officials, who then tagged him for “obsessive complaining.”

After Ish Tiu made the Lady Eagles’ only field goal conversion of the quarter, the second technical foul was called on the Ateneo mentor after another argument with the table officials. He then left the playing court with 16 seconds left, dejected and disgusted.

Ateneo ended the second period with only eight points compared to FEU’s 27. The score at the half had the Lady Tamaraws up 18, 45-27.

The poor play continued in the third quarter, again the Lady Eagles could only manage to score eight points. Raiza Palmera turned up the shooting for FEU, hitting both of her three-point conversions of the game, one of them with 15 seconds left on the clock. Ateneo’s deficit ballooned to 22 after the third, 57-35.

The Lady Eagles attempted to pick their game up in the final period, even outscoring FEU 14 to 10. Despite this, the lead was far too big as the Lady Tamaraws walked away the undisputed winners of this second round matchup.

Coach Q and his girls will look to bounce back as they take on the University of the East Lady Warriors on 9:00 AM, Wednesday, August 17 at the Blue Eagle Gym.

Scoring Leaders:

FEU, 67: Palmera 27, Lim 12, Borja 9, Sambile 6, Coulmna 4, Supnet 4, Siat 3, Soriano 2, Valenzona 0, Rosaldo 0, Baldonado 0, Gabriel 0, Tiu 0, Albano 0

ADMU, 49: Ong 11, Chua 8, Jose 7, Tiu 7, Mercado 4, Estrada 3, Dimaano 2, Aseron 0, Tantoco 0, Castro 0, Torre 0, Morales 0, Javier 0

Quarter Scoring: 18-19, 45-27, 57-35, 67-49