For 108 games, National University’s Women’s Basketball Team was the most dominant force not just in the UAAP but in the whole collegiate athletic scene.
In 108 games, NU clinched six straight UAAP crowns from Seasons 77 to 82. The Sampaloc school also won the 3×3 title during the condensed Season 84.
However, all good things inevitably come to an end someday. For the first time since October 5, 2013, the Lady Bulldogs’ hymm was sung second as they folded 57-61 to De La Salle University in overtime to taste their first defeat in nine years.
“I think we have to give credit to coach Cholo (Villanueva) and the De La Salle team for playing that way today and give credit to them for being well prepared. I thought they were well-prepared for this game. I have to admit they beat us really,” said NU mentor Aris Dimaunahan.
“In a basketball game, there will be a winner and a loser. It’s just sad today that, again, streaks are bound to be broken and it is today. Today it happened. The real challenge now for us as a team is how well we can bounce back after this loss. How well we could really turn the tide in a short span of time after being beaten. Yun yung titignan namin from tomorrow.”
Truth be told, there were signs already this season that this may finally be the year when NU will finally lose a ballgame in the women’s division. The Lady Bulldogs had to fend off close calls against the University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigresses when both teams squared off in the first and second rounds.
Against La Salle – which incidentally is the school that last beat NU before this 108-game winning streak – NU also had a tough time for most of the game until the latter found a way to get a huge separation.
Questions will be asked for the first time in a long time. What was once an air of invincibility has now become one of vulnerability. A restart is needed to overturn an unexpected setback.
“Just like what I said to you during those times I was here and when we were winning, we have this 24-hours of everything. Maybe a winning note, maybe a bad thing that we lost the game. We’ll have 24 hours of it to feel sorry for this but the next hour, we’ll be moving forward,” added the former Blackwater Elite head coach.
“I think yung 24 hours would be dealt by… Sabi nga namin iiyak niyo. Kailangan niyo yan kung iiyak niyo. Do it. The challenge really is after 24 hours, what do we do to bounce back?”
In the grander scheme of things, NU just needs to win one game against this season’s fourth placers to book an eighth straight finals appearance. They still have one more elimination game left to play in the form of Adamson University on Saturday.
This remains uncharted territory for NU, though, and it will be interesting to see how they react moving forward until the end of the season.
“The goal of this team is not to get the streak. The goal of this team is to win the championship and I think we still have a crack at it. Dun kami nag-fo-focus. Sabi ko naman sa inyo pagka tinatanong niyo ako about yung individual awards, we don’t look at them because the main goal really is to win the championship,” said Dimaunahan.
“That’s where our focus will be from this point. We don’t look at the records. If it happens, it happens and sadly it won’t happen. None of these girls ever experienced losing even me. I’m part of the 96-0 assistant ni coach Pat [Aquino] and we’re trying to rebuild ngayon ako yung head coach but again this is a game na may mananalo at may matatalo.”
For now, it is about moving forward for the Lady Bulldogs. They may still have the last laugh this Season 85 but seeing them bow down in defeat was indeed an unusual sight to witness in the UAAP.
There is still time for them to bounce back strongly as some coaches say, losses amount to learning experiences. And NU faced a tough lesson today, no doubt.
“It happened today that our game was off. Our game was really off today. I thought we could really snatch it sa dulo because we were playing not to our usual playing mode. Give credit to La Salle for playing that way,” said Dimaunahan.
“We’ll surely find a way to bounce back and we’ll see what happens in the coming days.”
