THE DOMINANT winning streak ends for the Ateneo Blue Eagles as they face their first defeat by the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Growling Tigresses, 66-75. The match occurred earlier today, October 10, at the Blue Eagle Gym in Quezon City.
Camille Malagar spearheaded the Ateneo offense and was the leading scorer for the Blue Eagles with 12 points. Meanwhile, Sarah Makanjoula tallied a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
Entering the hardwood, the Blue Eagles and Growling Tigresses entered a defensive chess match as both teams struggled to score. However, Makanjoula opened the scoring with a putback and free throw, 3-0. However, the Blue and White struggled to contain UST’s Kent Pastrana and Eka Soriano as they lost the lead, 3-4. Injecting quick offense, Head Coach L.A. Mumar subbed in Malagar, who made an immediate impact by being the primary ballhandler and scoring a layup, 8-7.
Similar to the last minutes, another lead change would occur as the Blue Eagles gave up four quick points to Agatha Bron and Pastrana, 9-11. Feeling his side losing control, Mumar regathered the Blue and White for a timeout at the three-minute mark. Coming out of the huddle, Ateneans Kate Cancio and Hannah Lopez found easy layups in transition, 13-12. However, Growling Tigresses responded with fury, going on a 5-0 run via free throws and fastbreak points, 18-12.
Noticing the lack of scoring, Blue Eagles Kai Oani and Malagar stepped up to the challenge as they scored four immediate points, 19-16. Nearing the end of the first canto, Oani made a three from rainbow country to tie the ball game up, 19-19.
Entering the second quarter with momentum, the Katipunan-based team continued their hot shooting as Kate Cancio converted a layup, 21-19. As the team continued to pour on, Kacey Dela Rosa and Malagar joined the party with four quick points, 25-21. Alongside their stellar offense, the Blue Eagles played a stifling 1-2-2 formation with Makanjoula patrolling the paint, which led to a transition layup, 27-23.
From this point forward, both teams would enter back and forth as Sandra Villacruz provided five points to keep her team afloat, 32-27. However, a free throw from UST’s Chille Serrano and a jumpshot from Brig Santos cut the Blue Eagles’ lead to just two, 32-30. This prompted Coach Mumar to huddle his squad at the two-minute mark. With renewed vigor, the Blue and White entered a close-quarters affair as both teams traded shots 34-35. Needing more offense, Makanjoula and Dela Rosa provided layups in the paint to give Ateneo a three-point edge, 38-35. Looking to end the quarter on a positive note, Cancio ran the break swiftly, converting an and-one layup to give Ateneo a six-point lead at the half, 41-35.
At the onset of the third quarter, the Blue Eagles found themselves locked in a cage as they struggled to keep up with the Growling Tigresses. When the defense failed to contain a nine-point run by UST, 41-46, Dela Rosa returned to lead a short offensive for the Blue and White. Erica de Luna then found two-time MVP Dela Rosa on the fastbreak, who maneuvered for the easy basket, 43-46. Another conversion by UST was mitigated by Oani, finding her range from deep to keep the gap honest, 45-48.
The Blue and White fell into another offensive slump, which coincided with an 8-0 UST run, 45-56. In the closing minutes of the canto, Gracie Batongbakal sank a technical free throw, and de Luna finished a masterful reverse layup to cut the lead, 48-56.
The beginning of the fourth quarter saw the Blue Eagles cut into the Espana-based university’s lead. The rookie de Luna continued her barrage with a quick floater, followed by Oani’s charity buckets that brought Ateneo closer, 52-56. However, the Blue Eagles came up short of stopping rim-running attempts by UST, allowing the gap to balloon to 10, 53-63. Despite de Luna’s corner triple that found the bottom of the bucket, the Blue and White failed to chase fastbreak sprints by the Growling Tigresses that kept the lead away, 56-68.
With time ticking for Ateneo, Malagar and de Luna converted on jumpshots that gave the Blue Eagles a glimmer of hope, 64-68. Despite a strong defensive effort, the Blue Eagles were forced into a number of turnovers by the Growling Tigresses, ending the contest with a 66-75 result in favor of UST.
The Blue Eagles aim to right the ship as they take on the National University (NU) Lady Bulldogs on October 18, Saturday, at 12:00 PM in the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Box Scores:
Ateneo (66): Malagar – 12, Makanjoula – 11, Cancio – 9, De Luna – 9, Villacruz – 9, Oani – 8, Dela Rosa – 6, Batongbakal – 1, Lopez – 1
UST (75): Pastrana – 28, Sierba – 12, Santos – 10, Ambos – 7, Soriano – 6, McAlary – 4, Bron – 2, Danganan – 2, Maglupay – 1, Serrano – 1
Quarter scores:
Ateneo-UST: 19-19, 41-35, 48-56, 66-75
Current Standings (W-L)
- UST Growling Tigresses (4-0)
- ATENEO Blue Eagles (4-1)
- NU Lady Bulldogs (3-1)
- AdU Lady Falcons (3-3)
- UP Fighting Maroons (2-2)
- FEU Lady Tamaraws (1-2)
- DLSU Lady Archers (0-3)
- UE Lady Warriors (0-5)
