Ateneo de Manila University punched the last ticket to the UAAP Season 85 Women’s Basketball Tournament after romping also-ran University of the East, 65-51, Wednesday at the Quadricentennial Pavillion in Manila.
This is the first time the Blue Eagles made the post-season since Season 78 which saw them make the Finals before bowing to National University via a sweep.
Ateneo went up to 7-6 and can no longer be caught by University of the Philippines (5-8) in the standings.
“Sobrang happy. We’re a program in its infancy stage, getting sila Kaycee [Dela Rosa], Ylyssa Eufemiano], sila Sarah [Makajuola]. It’s a pretty new team — wala na sila[Melissa] Newsome, sila Trina [Gutingco], sila [Hazel] Yam. It was one of our goals — to make the Final Four even we’re a young team after man, Danica Jose et al. In a way a little small history para sa mga girls natin today,” said first-year Blue Eagles head coach LA Mumar, who replaced Kat Quimpo in 2020.
Dominant was Ateneo on both ends in the first half, shooting lights out by going 15-of-30 from the field to build a 42-20 lead.
Eufemiano, a rookie out of Our Lady of Fatima University, scored 16 of her 23 points in the first 20 minutes of the contest. She also ended up with 10 rebounds.
Ateneo’s lead grew to as high as 26 points in the third frame, giving Mumar the luxury to play his third stringers in the final stanza.
Dela Rosa also tallied a double-double for Ateneo with 17 points, 13 rebounds, and four blocks while senior Jhazmin Joson scattered 13 points, eight rebounds, five assists, and four steals.
“It’s really a roller-coaster season for us. We’re a young team. We had a medyo weird schedule. We would always play 1-2-3, sunud-sunod, no? So, medyo hindi kami makalusot sa kanila, so sometimes nada-down sila, tapos umaakyat,” shared Mumar.
“But I really appreciate the girls, they trust me and the coaching staff. And they believe what we teach them and what we tell them,” he added.
UE remained winless in 13 games.
Joyce Terrinal was the lone double-digit scorer for UE with 15 points. Kamba Kone added 16 rebounds with nine points but shot just 4-of-19 from the field.
Ateneo still has UP on Saturday while UE faces La Salle on the same day.
The Scores:
Ateneo 65 – Eufemiano 23, Dela Rosa 17, Joson 13, Calago 4, Villacruz 3, Miranda 2, Nieves 2, Cruza 1, Penaranda 0, Fetalvero 0, Makanjuola 0, Perez 0, Angala 0.
UE 51 – Terrinal 15, Kone 9, Paule 9, Sajol 6, Lorena 5, Caraig 3, Nama 2, Silva 2, Gervacio 0, Tinio 0, Zamudio 0.
Quarterscores: 22-12, 42-20, 64-38, 65-51.
