The National University Lady Bulldogs easily dispatched the Adamson Lady Falcons, 85-53, today at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay.
National U were led by Gemma Miranda and Afril Bernardino, who scored 26 points and produced 13 rebounds and 20 points respectively.
As incredulous as it seems, the Lady Bulldogs had a slow start to the game. They had been losing 7-12, only for them to turn the tables on the Lady Falcons in an instant at 20-12. NU then gained control of the game when a Florymae Ceño trey capped off the first quarter with a score of 24-15.
“You need to focus from the start to finish. Until the buzzer sounds, hindi pa tayo tapos,” said NU head coach Patrick Aquino. “As I told them if you don’t focus and be disciplined in what you’re doing, hindi natin mapapanalo.”
“You really have to work hard to earn a win.”
NU’s dominance carried on into the second quarter. Miranda gave the Lady Bulldogs a 37-21 lead over Adamson. Just before the break, a Jack Animam basket gave NU a 49-25 advantage at the half.
Both teams then simply ran through the motions until the end of the game. Miranda converted two free throws to give the Lady Bulldogs a 59-27 lead in the third quarter, which eventually ended with NU up 71-35 over the Lady Falcons.
Midway through the fourth quarter, Bernardino helped put up an 81-41 lead over the Bulldogs. Perhaps mercifully, the game finally ended shortly afterwards, as NU outclassed Adamson, 85-53.
Despite three strong showings, Aquino turned down talk of NU sweeping another season. The Lady Bulldogs are currently unbeaten over 35 games.
The two-time UAAP champion coach stated, “I just want to take it one game at a time. Let’s not focus on the sweep. Basta we continue playing this way, working hard, being disciplined enough, being focused on their game, we don’t know. Sana.”
The factors that summed up NU’s control of the game were their free throws and rebounds. The Lady Bulldogs shot 35-for-47 from the free throw area compared to the Lady Falcon’s 12-of-17. In terms of rebounds, NU had 67, while Adamson only had 39.
Kristeena Camacho led Adamson with 10 points.
NU (3-0) will face the De La Salle University Lady Archers (2-0) on September 18, 8:00AM, while Adamson (1-2) shall go up against the Ateneo de Manila University Lady Eagles (1-1) on September 17, 10:00AM. Both games will be played in the Araneta Coliseum.
The Scores:
NU (85) – Miranda 26, Bernardino 20, Animam 9, Itesi 7, Nabalan 5, Del Carmen 5, Camelo 4, Ceno 3, Layug 2, Taneza 1, Rebadulla 0, Malana 0.
ADU (53) – Camacho 10, Rosario 8, Pingol 7, Alcoy 6, Razalo 6, Lacson 4, Araja 4, Dampios 3, Loretero 3, Cabug 2, Osano 0, Cacho 0, Aciro 0, Gaite 0, Tacitac 0.
Quarterscores: 25-14, 49-25, 71-35, 85-53.
