FRESH FACES dotted the Ateneo Lady Eagles’ lineup in their opening game loss to the powerhouse National University (NU) Lady Bulldogs in the 7th PCABL Dickies Women’s Invitational Tournament on Saturday, June 9, at the Philippine Buddhacare Academy Gym in Quezon City.

After being limited to secondary roles last year, the backcourt duo of Jhazmin Joson and Alyssa Villamor proved to be revelations for the Lady Eagles as they contributed 14 and 12 markers, respectively. Veteran Katrina Guytingco provided stability with nine points in the losing effort.

Joanne Nimes and LJ Miranda’s debuts for the Blue and White were spoiled by Rhena Itesi’s double-double of 18 points and 17 rebounds. Maymay Canuto also chipped in 10 points for an NU squad that was missing reigning UAAP MVP Jack Animam, who is currently representing the country in the FIBA 3×3 World Cup.

The Lady Eagles came firing out of the gates to start the game with Joson and Villamor hitting difficult baskets en route to an early 7-4 lead. Itesi fired right back, however, using her size advantage and footwork to get easy baskets from the low block. Back-to-back pocket passes to Melissa Newsome handed four quick points to Ateneo, but Kaye Pingol’s buzzer beating layup allowed NU to enter the second period with a six-point cushion, 11-17.

Both teams exchanged of a flurry of baskets to start the second period, but an Itesi putback and a Ria Nabalan triple allowed the Lady Bulldogs to gain traction, extending the lead to double digits. A Newsome split at the line ended the first half with Ateneo trailing, 22-32.

NU continued to hammer it inside at the start of the third to go up by 16. An and-one play by Villamor momentarily stopped the bleeding, but the buckets continued to pile on for the Lady Bulldogs as they found themselves up, 29-53. Nevertheless, the Lady Eagles stayed aggressive, sinking four straight free throws to trim the deficit to 21 entering the payoff period, 33-54.

While four charities were converted for Ateneo, the Lady Bulldogs had yet to finish, hitting back-to-back triples to extend the lead back to 23. Facing a seemingly insurmountable lead, the Lady Eagles refused to give in as they locked down on defense while regaining their rhythm on offense, going on a 15-4 run highlighted by triples from Joson and Villamor to close the gap to 12 with less than two minutes remaining.

However, with time as their biggest enemy, it was too late for the Lady Eagles as the Sampaloc-based side held onto the lead in the final seconds, closing out the matchup at 60-70.

While Joson acknowledged that the team could have done better, she also commented on the difficulty of having several new faces in the team, saying, “It’s different [and] it’s hard, but we just have to work as a team.”

With the team’s relative lack of size after Tina Deacon’s departure, Joson also believes that the team is capable of overcoming this disadvantage. “Even though we’re not big, we [have] big heart,” she said. “We just [have to] sacrifice and work as hard as we can.”

The Lady Eagles are set to battle another UAAP rival, as they face the Adamson University Lady Falcons at 2:45 pm on Saturday, June 16, at the same venue.

Quarter Scores:

Ateneo-NU: 11-17, 22-32, 33-54, 60-70

Box Score:

Ateneo (60): Joson – 14, Villamor – 12, Guytingco – 9, Newsome – 5, Miranda – 4, Buendia – 4, Chu – 4, Nimes – 4, Cancio – 2, Moslares – 2

NU (70): Itesi – 18, Canuto – 10, Nabalan – 7, Pingol – 7, Camelo – 6, Bartolo – 6, Harada – 5, Fabruada – 4, Del Carmen – 2, Cacho – 2, Edino Ticky – 2, Goto – 1, Ceno – 0, Cac – 0, Layug – 0