Photo by Kat A. Mallillin

HAVING PREVIOUSLY beaten rivals De La Salle University in considerably comfortable fashion, the Ateneo Lady Eagles won by a larger margin against the UE Lady Warriors, 67-45, on August 10 at the Blue Eagle Gym.

The game featured Ateneo’s supporting unit lead the charge, with none of the team’s starters scoring in double digits. More impressive was their two-point field goal percentage: the Lady Eagles made 24 baskets out of 57 attempts while also holding UE to 31.4% on 11 of 35 shooting.

Five deadlocks set the tone early in the first quarter, as Ateneo eventually took the lead—the only lead change of the game. After 10 minutes of play, the Lady Eagles were up by three, 14-11.

Ateneo then proceeded to breakaway in the second quarter. The Katipunan-based squad allowed their opponents to score only four points the entire second period—compared to their 22.

An unsportsmanlike foul tagged on Lady Warrior Jan Vergara with a minute remaining summed up UE’s woeful quarter. The Lady Eagles would add more salt to the wound by scoring five points during the last minute, including an and-one by Corrine Javier with six-tenths of a second left on the clock.

At the half, Ateneo was up twenty-one points, 36-15.

After the restart, the third period saw both teams trade baskets early on. Although the Lady Eagles were held scoreless for four minutes, they would rally in the last five—highlighted by identical baskets by Javier from Therese Estrada—to end the quarter with a 16-point advantage, 53-27.

The first seven minutes of the final quarter depicted a rather sluggish Ateneo team, which only managed to score six points. Though UE attempted to reduce the deficit, the lead proved to be too great. Ateneo turned up the shooting in the last two minutes to finally put the game to bed, ending with a Jennifer Dimaano jumper with ten seconds to go.

For a second consecutive game, the Lady Eagles comfortably walked off the remaining seconds—thus ended the first round of their UAAP Season 74 campaign.

Mary Aseron, Javier and Dimaano scored 11, 10, and 10 points respectively for the Blue and White, showcasing the capabilities of Ateneo’s bench. Captain Sarah Mercado led the team in rebounding with 12, followed by Danica Jose, who grabbed seven of her own.

“The second round starts on Sunday,” said Lady Eagles Coach Chris Quimpo. Regarding his mindset for the second round, he said, “We can’t afford to go down, because we’re aware that we’re on top. Everyone improves in the second round and we should as well. We should start strong.”

Ateneo concludes the first round with a 4-3 slate, and is currently on the right track towards getting a coveted Final Four slot.

The Lady Eagles will tentatively start their second round of matches against the UE Lady Warriors at the Blue Eagle Gym on Sunday, August 14.

Scoring Leaders:

ADMU, 67: Aseron 11, Javier 10, Dimaano 10, Estrada 8, Jose 5, Tiu 5, Ong 4, Mercado 4, Chua 4, Morales 3, Bo-ot 2, Castro 1, Tantoco 0, Torre 0

UE, 45: Ventura 14, Resultay 12, Tan 8, Junsay 6, Abarquez 3, Doqueza 2, Valdez 0, Suiton 0, Domino 0, Puno 0, Vergara 0, Floralde 0

Quarter Scoring: 14-11, 36-15, 53-27, 67-45