THE ATENEO Lady Eagles were defeated by the Far Eastern University (FEU) Lady Tamaraws, 45-65, in the second of three round-robin games in the 2019 Women’s Basketball Invitational on Wednesday, July 10, at the Blue Eagle Gym, Quezon City. Today’s loss is Ateneo’s second in a row after dropping their opening match of the tournament against the University of Santo Tomas.
Alyssa Villamor led the way for the Lady Eagles with a team-high 11 points and pulled down five boards. Jhazmin Joson was also a big contributor with nine points, six of which came from beyond the arc.
FEU’s Claire Castro was a major presence inside, leading all scorers with 13 points and hauling in nine rebounds, one short of a double-double. Her running mate Blanche Bahuyan punished Ateneo’s defense with 11 points of her own on an efficient 67% clip.
Ateneo opened the game with a Joson three before Castro countered with an and-one. The early burst of offense quickly settled into a cagey affair with both teams keeping each other at bay. The pace quickened later in the quarter when Bahuyan poured in five straight points to put FEU in front, 14-12, to close the first.
Villamor and her teammate Hazel Yam tried to keep the Blue and White close with heady defensive plays, but a 6-0 blitz from FEU gave the Tamaraws the cover they needed to weather the storm.
Similar to the opening half of the game, both teams came out trading baskets after halftime.
However, FEU caught fire midway through the third quarter and extended their lead to 14 off an 8-1 run as the game entered the final frame.
The Lady Eagles were not able to make enough defensive stops to claw back the deficit, nor could they match the Tamaraws’ hot shooting. FEU went up by as much as 23 after a Princess Jumuad triple.
To punctuate an already tough outing for the Lady Eagles, tempers flared in the final moments of the game when Villamor was charged with an unsportsmanlike foul after Judy Ann Abat was called for reaching in.
After the game, Lady Eagles Head Coach Katrina Quimpo pointed to their shooting woes as the catalyst of their struggles.
“Well, we weren’t making our shots. We have been thriving on making those 3 pointers which we were so bad at today,” she said. “They were overthinking. They kept thinking about their missed shots and carried it over to our defense and we weren’t able to get out of that mindset or slump anymore until the end.”
After the game, Coach Quimpo’s message was clear: More effort and a better attitude.
“What we talked about is plainly attitude and effort which we didn’t have. It didn’t seem as if they all wanted to play. They played tired. We have a short bench, we lost two players this year and that’s gonna be it until the UAAP comes,” she added.
The loss keeps the Lady Eagles winless in the 2019 Women’s Basketball Invitational. The team will play their penultimate game of the tournament against the University of the Philippines, tomorrow, July 11, Thursday, at 8:00 AM at the Blue Eagle Gym in Quezon City.
Quarter Scores:
Ateneo-FEU: 12-14, 17-23, 27-41, 45-65
Box Score:
Ateneo (45): Villamor – 11, Joson – 9, De Dios – 6, Guytingco – 6, Yam – 4, Nimes – 4, Payac – 2, Newsome – 2, Chu – 1, Moslares – 0, Cancio – 0, Miranda – 0, Villacruz – 0, Aquisap – 0
FEU (65): Castro – 13, Bahuyan – 11, Quiapo – 9, Mamaril – 7, Jumuad – 7, Padapon – 5, Antiola – 4, Abat – 3, Nagma – 2, Delos Santos – 2, Panti – 1, Villanueva – 0, Bastatas – 0, Pacia – 0, Paredes – 0, Vidal – 0
