Poor perimeter shooting has characterized the National University Lady Bulldogs so far in the UAAP Season 81 Women’s Basketball Tournament, but Jack Animam’s expertise in the paint was more than enough to lead them towards a 90-64 victory over the Ateneo de Manila University Lady Eagles.
The Season 80 Most Valuable Player shot 75 percent from the field and paced the Lady Bulldogs with 20 points and eight rebounds, today at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City. Ria Nabalan and Rhena Itesi followed Animam’s example with 14 and 12 points respectively.
“Ateneo fought hard. We need to step up. The bigs stepped up again but our shooting woes still continues with four out of 20 from the three-point area. We have to address that. Siguro because of our pressure defense, we had that big lead. If not, siguro close yung game,” commented NU coach Patrick Aquino.
A Flor Ceno three handed the defending champions a 22-9 advantage right at the end of the first quarter. Ria Nabalan’s basket then extended NU’s lead to 32-14 at the 5:58 mark of the second period.
However, Cara Buendia closed off an Ateneo 9-0 run with a three-point play to trim the deficit to 23-32. Samantha Harada then sunk a trey to turn extinguish the Lady Eagles’ fire and to ignite a 14-9 NU run as the Lady Bulldogs closed the half with a 46-32 edge.
It was in the second half that the Lady Bulldogs raised their intensity. Kaye Pingol’s charity closed a 16-2 NU run to make the scoreline read 62-34 and kill off any chance of an Ateneo comeback.
Despite a 69-40 lead at the end of the third period, the Lady Bulldogs relentlessly bombarded the Lady Eagles in the paint until the final buzzer. A Monique Del Carmen basket at the 4:03 mark of the final period handed NU their biggest lead of the ballgame at 85-52 over Ateneo.
NU sealed their 66th consecutive victory in the UAAP with a 90-64 result over Ateneo, and they had inside points to thank for – they had 60 compared to the Katipunan school’s 24. The Lady Bulldogs also controlled the boards with 52 rebounds, 22 of which came from the offensive end, versus Ateneo’s 36 and 8.
Jhazmin Joson produced 14 points for Ateneo followed by Jolina Go and Melissa Newsome who scored 12 and 10 respectively.
“It’s gonna be a good match-up. La Salle is La Salle. We’ll have to work harder definitely to (know) who we are talaga. Still the potential of being the best is not yet there,” concluded the former UP Fighting Maroon.
Both teams’ next games will be on September 26, 2018 at the Blue Eagle Gym in Quezon City. Ateneo play the Far Eastern University Lady Tamaraws at 8:00 AM, while NU plays De La Salle University Lady Archers later in the afternoon at 2:00 PM.
The Scores:
NU (90) – Animam 20, Nabalan 14, Itesi 12, Del Carmen 10, Harada 8, Fabruada 7, Pingol 4, Camelo 4, Cacho 4, Ceno 3, Canuto 2, Cac 2, Bartolo 0, Goto 0, Layug 0.
ADMU (64) – Joson 14, Go 12, Newsome 10, Buendia 8, Nimes 8, Villamor 6, Guytingco 6, Cancio 0, De Dios 0, Gino-Gino 0, Moslares 0, Chu 0.
Quarterscores: 22-9, 46-32, 69-40, 90-64.
