It should be clear by now that National University is the best collegiate women’s team in all of Philippine basketball.
The defending UAAP women’s basketball tournament champions punished the Far Eastern University with the most lopsided beating of Season 78 so far to complete a sweep of the first round.
Afril Bernardino fired 20 points on 9-for-11 shooting and hauled down 10 rebounds as the Lady Bulldogs defeated the hapless Lady Tamaraws, 86-43.
The Lady Bulldogs won its seventh straight game of the season and 23rd overall dating back to Season 77 when it went 16-0 for the title.
A 22-4 first quarter blast was all NU needed to break the game wide open. The team never looked back from that point, tearing its opponents to bits with run after run while shooting 58.3 percent from the field.
The Lady Bulldogs shot 43.5 percent from three-point area. They also scored 29 points off the Lady Tams’ 31 turnovers, showing their relentless defense for the entire ball game.
Veterans Shelley Gupilan and Gemma Miranda contributed 10 points apiece. No Lady Bulldog played for more than 23 minutes.
The Lady Tamaraws, last year’s runner-up, struggled from the floor, shooting only 25.4 percent and also having only 7 assists in the game.
Yetunde Okunlola paced the Morayta side with 13 points and 6 rebounds. FEU sank to 1-6 as their hopes of making the Final Four begin to dim.
The Scores:
NU (86) – Bernardino 20, Gupilan 10, Miranda 10, Animam 8, Tongco 6, Itesi 6, Sison 5, Nabalan 4, Del Carmen 4, Riel 4, Antiquiera 3, Paig 2, Abriam 2, Layug 2, Reyes 0, Harada 0.
FEU (43) – Okunlola 13, Arellado 11, Baldonado 6, Castro 5, Gerner 4, Ballecer 2, Quiapo 2, Adriano 0, Ventura 0, Hortaleza 0, Abat 0, Payadon 0.
Quarters: 22-4, 46-16, 68-24, 86-43.
