THE ATENEO Lady Eagles tallied their second straight victory care of a come-from-behind effort against the Far Eastern University (FEU) Lady Tamaraws with the score of 58-55 on July 19 at the Blue Eagle Gym.
The Lady Eagles opened the first half with contributions from Danica Jose and Hazelle Yam. Despite the Ateneo’s slow pace in the second quarter, Yam was able to create offensively as she notched four points off aggressive drives to the hoop for the girls in blue.
With the score tied at 23-all at the end of the second quarter, the Lady Tamaraws turned up their defensive pressure by the second half. Led by April Siat’s 13 points, FEU started to pull away from the Lady Eagles.
The Lady Tamaraw’s 20-12 third quarter score positioned FEU in control entering the fourth. With Siat’s low-post presence and a timely Jaimee Chan layup, the Lady Tamaraws managed to tally their biggest lead of the game at 45-36.
Fortunately for the Ateneo, Akiko Tomita entered the game as a huge spark plug for the Lady Eagles. Akiko erupted with six straight points care of back-to-back mid-range jump shots and an easy layup off an offensive rebound. Her 6-0 scoring outburst with just eight minutes of action reduced the lead to three, 45-42. The Ateneo continued their hot shooting as a Ther Aseron triple, a long two by Klar Posadas and a strong inside basket by Jose tied the ballgame at 51-all.
Aseron did not hold back on the offensive barrage as she immediately delivered again from long distance. Her corner triple with less than three minutes left in the game gave the Lady Eagles the 54-51 advantage and sent the ecstatic Ateneo faithful on their feet.
With Jose and Aseron sinking their free throws, the Lady Eagles were able to hold on to the win despite a brief 4-0 scoring run by the Lady Tamaraws. The Ateneo tallied the 23-12 advantage in the fourth quarter as the Lady Eagles come from behind to snag their second straight victory. Jose led all players with 22 points and 13 rebounds. Aseron followed with 14 points and nailed two baskets from beyond the arc.
THE SCORES
FEU – Siat 13, Castro 10, Arellano 9, Tanaman 8, Ventura 8, Valenzona 3, Lozano 2, Chan 2
Ateneo – Jose 22, Aseron 14, Tomita 6, Yam 4, Go 3, Bo-ot 2, Buendia 2, Posadas 2, Belarmino 1
