THE ATENEO Blue Eagles opened their University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 88 Women’s 3×3 Basketball campaign with an even 1-1 record. The games were held earlier today, April 27, at the Ayala Malls Manila Bay in the City of Parañaque.
Kicking off their title defense from Season 87, the Blue Eagles dropped their opening game against the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Growling Tigresses, before bouncing back with a win over National University (NU) Lady Bulldogs.
Kacey Dela Rosa delivered a steady performance, tallying 15 points and 12 rebounds across the two-game stretch, providing a strong presence for the Blue Eagles’ offense in their matchups against the España and Sampaloc-based squads.
Ateneo vs UST
The Blue Eagles faced last year’s bronze medalists UST, whom they dispatched in the semifinals last season en route to the championship.
Ateneo kept pace with UST in the opening exchanges, as Lauren Lopez erased an early deficit with a two-point connection to tie the game at 2-2, before Oani and Dela Rosa chipped in to keep the Blue Eagles within striking distance. Despite their efforts, the Blue and White struggled to contain Kent Pastrana, who powered the Growling Tigresses to a slim 9-6 lead.
The Blue Eagles’ offense then went cold at a crucial stretch in the game, allowing the Growling Tigresses to break the game open with a punishing 12-0 tear. Ateneo found itself unable to generate quality looks due to the Tigresses’ scrambling defense, in which Pastrana, Erinn Mcalery, and Nicole Daganan feasted on the other end to stretch the deficit to 18-6.
Attempting to will Ateneo back into the contest, Dela Rosa bucked three consecutive layups in the closing minutes, but the rally came too late as the Growling Tigresses pulled away for a convincing 21-9 victory.
Ateneo vs NU
Aiming to get back on track, the Blue and White went face-to-face against NU to close the day’s proceedings.
The Blue Eagles quickly found their rhythm to overcome an early deficit with Dela Rosa spearheading a personal 4-0 run for a 4-2 lead. After NU answered through Cielo Pagdulagan, De Luna and Dela Rosa kept the Blue Eagles in front as they maintained control of the early exchanges.
Building momentum, Dela Rosa knocked down a free throw before converting a putback basket to help Ateneo stay ahead at 8-6 . Hannah Lopez then stretched the Blue Eagles’ advantage to 10-6 with a two-point basket, but NU responded with consecutive baskets from Medina to trim the deficit to just two.
Ateneo refused to surrender the advantage they had as Dela Rosa answered with a strong drive to the cup, before Lopez and De Luna added timely baskets to extend the lead back to five, 14-9. NU threatened once more behind Aloha Betanio, who scored three straight points to make it a two-point game.
With the match hanging in the balance, Dela Rosa took over late, scoring three consecutive baskets in the paint to give Ateneo breathing room. Though Marylene Solis scored late for NU, the Blue Eagles held firm to secure an 18-14 victory.
Ateneo will seek to improve their standing in the tournament when they face Katipunan rivals University of the Philippines (UP) Fighting Maroons tomorrow at 4:40 PM in the same venue.
Box scores:
Ateneo vs UST
Ateneo (9): Dela Rosa- 5, Oani – 2, L. Lopez- 2, De Luna- 0
UST (21): Pastrana- 12, Mcalery- 5, Daganan- 4, Santos- 0
Ateneo vs NU
Ateneo (18): Dela Rosa- 10, H. Lopez- 4, De Luna- 3, Oani 1
UST (14): Betanio- 5, Pagdulagan- 4, Solis- 3, Medina- 2
Current Standings (W-L):
- UST (2-0)
- FEU (2-0)
- DLSU (1-1)
- UE (1-1)
- AdU (1-1)
- ATENEO Blue Eagles (1-1)
- UP (0-2)
- NU (0-2)
