The Ateneo de Manila University Eagles survived a second-half comeback from Battle of Katipunan rivals University of the Philippines Lady Maroons to welcome their Season 77 campaign with a 54-42 win.
The low scoring affair saw both teams struggle to rack down points for most of the first half, with the score at 23-16 at halftime. Both schools would record better scoring outputs in the third quarter of the game, with Bea Daez coming alive to help UP outscore 18-16 and close in on Ateneo, 39-34, after having trailed by double-digits for most of the quarter. However, UP’s scoring woes returned in the fourth quarter, as the Lady Maroons would go on to score a lowly 8 points in the final period. The Lady Eagles capitalized from the Lady Maroons’ lagging offense to score 15 points in the final quarter, including crucial baskets from Danica Jose, Akiko Tomita, and Jolina Go in the final minutes of the period.
Danica Jose scored 18 points and brought down 8 rebounds for the Lady Eagles to help the Eagles take home their first win of the season. Jose struggled early in the game, but came alive in the second half to bury a struggling UP. Bea Daez led the Lady Maroons with 10 points. The Lady Maroons outrebounded the Lady Eagles 42-35, bagging 18 offensive boards, but struggled to score throughout the game, sinking an abysmal12 out of 45 two-point shots and 2 out of 15 3-point shots.
