Three losses in as many games.
It has been a dismal start to the UAAP Season 79 Women’s Basketball Tournament for the University of the Philippines Lady Maroons, as the likes of Adamson University, De La Salle University and most recently the University of the East have overwhelmed them.
While the loss against Adamson could be deemed as first day jitters, defeats to La Salle and UE have left a scar, as the two schools won in lopsided fashion over UP.
“Even though the past two games were blowout wins, playing against them beforehand, we thought we could also win against them. We prepared well but nothing eh. It’s still not going our way,” stated fifth-year Lady Maroon Maan Wong.
The Lady Maroons were able to keep up with the Lady Archers and Lady Warriors in the first quarter, but were overwhelmed in each game by the second and third periods respectively. Those periods became the point of the game in which the Lady Maroons virtually lost the contest.
The Antipolo-born player said, “It’s like becoming a trend. It’s more of I feel like the teams they were able to adjust already and us players we weren’t able to adjust right away. I think that’s really a problem.”
“It’s really the turnovers which are killing us. We need to work on that aspect like not throwing the ball. If our teammate can’t get the ball, we still pass it. It’s more of focus and composure that we’re lacking.”
Wong admitted that the team was still down after those three losses, but they still look forward to each game. She said, “We’re still hoping to win the next game. We’re still there. We’re still into this season. It’s still too early to give up. We’ll still fight. Obviously the past two games were kind of embarrassing, but we’re still into it.”
This season is an adjustment year for UP, as Kenneth Raval had replaced Emmanuel Papa before the start of the season. Nevertheless, Wong is undeterred. “It’s still basketball. You just need to trust the new system and everything will go well. Now it’s my role to really lead the team like with the experiences I’ve had with the past seasons, those are the things I want to be able to share them.”
There are still 11 games to go before the end of the elimination round. The Montessori Integrated School of Antipolo product still has high hopes for the rest of the season. “Obviously I really want to win the championship, but realistically I know we have a chance of entering the Final Four and from there we’ll see.”
UP’s next match will be against Season 79 hosts, the University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigresses, on Septermber 17, 8:00AM, at the Araneta Coliseum. Expect Wong to go all out as she leads the Lady Maroons to what could be their first win this season.
