Despite a fierce end game rally, the Ateneo Lady Eagles fell short against the University of the Philippines Lady Fighting Maroons, 48-47, at the PhilSports Arena on July 19.
Opening the quarter with a Mariana Lopa trey and suffocating UP with their pressure defense, the Lady Eagles appeared to be on their way to securing their second win as they raced to an 8-1 lead early in the first quarter.
A second quarter scoring drought, however, proved to be Ateneo’s downfall as they were held to only 7 points against UP’s 18, to end the half at 24-15.
Rallying to catch up, a fast-paced early third quarter saw the Lady Eagles with renewed aggressiveness on both ends of the court with forward Rona Co and guard Ces Trinidad driving against the Lady Maroons’ defense, and the team managing to secure the rebounds and grab some steals.
The Lady Eagles sustained the rally coming into the final canto as they took advantage of UP’s early penalty situation by attacking towards the basket.
A bad fall in the 6:07 mark of the quarter didn’t stop Captain Treena Limgenco, together with Sarah Mercado and Hila Indigne from narrowing down the lead to 43-41 after Indigne’s completed three-point play with four minutes remaining.
Still facing a two-point deficit, Ateneo came off a time out incurring a crucial inbound violation with less than two minutes to go.
The ensuing play saw Trinidad and UP’s Diwa Paz in a jump ball, with the Lady Maroons prevailing to force the Lady Eagles to foul and stop the clock at 10 seconds.
Trinidad managed to score a quick two with three seconds remaining to peg the count at 48-47. However, time expired before the Lady Eagles could even tie the game.
Head Coach Haydee Ong said, “I think we lost in the second quarter. We didn’t play aggressively and we didn’t defend aggressively.”
Trinidad added, “We became lax a little bit when we were in the lead. We let go on defense and they [UP] were the aggressive ones during the second quarter. And I think that was the turning point of the game.”
The Lady Eagles are currently 1-1 and will face National University on Saturday, July 25, 10:45am at the PhilSports Arena.
