The National University Lady Bulldogs continued their reign of dominance in the UAAP Season 87 Collegiate Women’s Basketball Tournament, cruising past the Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles, 82-62, on Sunday morning at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
This victory marked NU’s eighth consecutive win of the season, further solidifying their position as the top team in the league and getting their bid to complete an elimination round sweep to a rousing start.
More importantly, it extended their winning streak over Ateneo to an impressive 20 games, dating back to the second round of Season 75 in 2012.
On the other hand, back-to-back losses to the Lady Bulldogs pulled the Blue Eagles down to a 4-4 record.
Rookie Cielo Pagdulagan continued her stellar play with 16 points on 7-of-12 from the field, seven assists, six rebounds, five steals, and zero turnovers to end the match with a game-high plus-27 rating off the bench.
“It’s a testament kung gaano siya katibay kasi first round medyo up-and-down yung game niya. She’s finding yung consistency that we’re looking for her and I thought today, was her breakout game. I’m happy that she responded well, numbers will tell you,” said NU head coach Aris Dimaunahan. “Those numbers itself tells about how dedicated she is and how open her heart and mind is sa mga advices na binibigay sa kanya when she was struggling in the first round.”
In contrast to their narrow 66-58 first round win over the Blue Eagles last October 5, the Lady Bulldogs leaned on Cielo Pagdulagan, Aloha Betanio, Jainaba Konateh, and Marylene Solis to assert their dominance early with a 20-11 second quarter performance to take a 14-point lead, 39-25, at the half.
Banking on the absence of Ateneo’s lead guard Junize Calago, who fouled out early at the 7:18 mark of the third quarter, NU expanded its lead to a game-high 22-point cushion, 56-34, capped by a layup and triple from Betanio.
“The one week break that happened between the first round and the second round really helped us in preparing for this game specifically because we had a lot of time processing and laying down the game plan,” Dimaunahan added.
Betanio contributed 11 points, five rebounds, three assists, and four steals, while May Canuto chipped in 11 points, four rebounds, and two assists.
Konateh and Camille Clarin chipped in eight and seven points, respectively, while Angel Surada still contributed eight rebounds despite being limited to three points on 1-of-4 shooting.
Looking ahead, the Lady Bulldogs look to maintain their undefeated slate when it clashes against the UP Fighting Maroons next Sunday, Oct. 20, 6 p.m., at the UST Quadricentennial Pavilion.
Kacey Dela Rosa tallied her eighth straight double-double with 22 points and 17 rebounds to go along with an assist and a block, while Nigerian center Sarah Makanjoula was limited to seven points on 2-of-8 from the field but still managed 11 rebounds, two steals, one block, and one assist.
After fouling out, Calago ended the day with six points, four rebounds, four assists, and two steals, but committed six turnovers.
On the other hand, the Blue Eagles aim to snap a two-game skid against the reigning champions Growling Tigresses on Saturday, Oct. 19., 10 a.m., at the same UST arena.
