THE ATENEO LADY Eagles suffered their first defeat of the season against 2-time defending champions National University (NU) Lady Bulldogs, 52-74, on September 11, 2016 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Cubao, Quezon City.
Although the Lady Eagles were able to keep NU’s lead close in the 1st quarter (10-16), the 2nd period spelled the difference in the half, and of the game. After an early 3 pointer by Lady Eagle Alyssa Villamor, the Lady Bulldogs went on a 7-0 run culminating with a steal and lay-up by last year’s MVP Afril Bernardino to lead by 10. This forced Ateneo Coach John Flores to call a timeout to stop the momentum. This was to no avail however, as the Lady Bulldogs continued to force the Lady Eagles to commit turnovers, as Ateneo had difficulty figuring out the NU press. Before Coach Flores burned another time out, the score was 15-29 in favor of the Lady Bulldogs.
At the half, the Lady Eagles trailed 15-33, highlighted by 20 turnovers compared to NU’s 6. The Bulldogs also dominated the boards with 14 offensive rebounds compared to Ateneo’s two. Despite Ateneo center Tina Deacon’s 10 points in the 3rd quarter, NU continued to pour on the points through triples by Florymae Ceno and twin towers Jack Animam and Rhena Itesi crashing the boards and hitting shots in the paint. Entering the 4th quarter, the NU lead was up to 22.
Lady Bulldogs went on a 15-5 run to begin the final period, including two triples and a runner by guard Je-anne Camelo to put the game out of reach, 40-72. With under 4 minutes left and coming out of a timeout, the Lady Eagles responded to their coach’s instruction to cut the lead down. Tomita scored 6 straight points, whilst Deacon and Villamor made a triple each to end the game. Despite the late game turnaround, the hole was simply too big to be dug out of, as the Ateneo fell to NU, 52-74.
After the game, Coach Flores remarked that most of the NU’s bench players stepped up and contributed especially in the second half. When asked about his team, Coach Flores said, “We need to be consistent. We need to keep the momentum on our hands” and added that these were two things the team failed to do against NU today.
Tina Deacon lead the way for the Lady Eagles with 13 points and 7 rebounds, whilst guard Hazelle Yam had 9 points. Villamor also contributed well with 8 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists.
With the loss, the Ateneo Lady Eagles go down to 1-1, whilst NU stays undefeated at 2-0.
Up next for the Lady Eagles are the Adamson Lady Falcons on Saturday, Septmeber 17, 2016, at 10am in the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Box Scores:
Ateneo: Deacon- 13, Yam- 9, Villamor- 8, Cancio- 7, Tomita- 6, Go- 3, Uy De Ong- 2, Guytingco- 2, Newsome- 2
NU: Bernardino- 17, Animam- 13, Ceno- 12, Miranda- 10, Camelo- 10, Del Carmen- 5, Itesi- 4, Nabalan- 3
