NU Lady Bulldogs sweeps tourney again for its 2nd straight UAAP women's cage title
- Jamil Buergo
- Dec 7, 2015
- 4 min read
National University Lady Bulldogs went undefeated again in the UAAP Women's Basketball tournament as it clobbered the Ateneo Lady Eagles in Game 2 of the finals, 75-55, at the Blue Eagle Gym.
The 32-game winning streak of the Lady Bulldogs currently the 3rd longest win streak in the UAAP. The Adamson softball team is 62-0 spanning 5 seasons, while NU men’s lawn tennis team is 33-0.
For Ateneo, battling NU in the finals is already an achievement of sorts as they endured five straight do-or-die games, including 2 against La Salle, to get into the finals. Ateneo beat UE in the first step-ladder match, 65-62, behind the heroics of Danica Jose who scored 17 points and hauled doen 8 rebounds.
Against La Salle who enjoys a twice-to-beat advantege, Ateneo seemed to have their backs against the wall as they face a team which ranked no. 2 in the league with a 12-2 record, and had a 12-game winning streak before NU ended it in the last elimination game of the tournament. Ateneo showed resiliency in the first game as it escaped La Salle 55-53 behind Hazelle Yam's 19 points. In the second game, Ateneo clearly had the momentum as they cruised past the Lady Archers 62-50 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. Hazelle Yam spearheaded the Lady Eagles' stirring 24-12 run in the final quarter, scoring seven of her game-high 15 points in that period. Jolina Go added 13 points while Danica Jose had 11 points and 11 rebounds.
Armed with a thrice-to-beat advantage, NU seemed to be unchallenged as they took the fight out early from the Lady Eagles to win Game 1 with an empahatic 91-59 victory at the Mall of Asia Arena. Prior to Game 1 of the womens basketball finals, NU had an 18-day break as UE, DLSU and ADMU battled it out to reach the championship in a step-ladder format.
So unforgiving was the defense of NU that they forced 29 turnovers for Ateneo and converted them into 28 points. The Lady Bulldogs were able to score 28 fastbreak points against Ateneo’s 12. They also outrebounded Ateneo 64-42, and had 27 second chance points.
Perlas Pilipinas player and back-to-back Season MVP Afril Bernardino led the Lady Bulldogs with 17 points and 18 rebounds. She also had 3 assists, 2 steals, and 5 blocks. Sam Paig and Shelley Gupilan had 16 and 14 points respectively for NU. On the other hand, Katrina Guytingco had 14 points and 7 rebounds for Ateneo.
In Game 2, Ateneo put up a fight in the early goings as Jolina Go hit two straight triples to take a 6-2 lead. But NU tightened up their defense and pounded Ateneo in the paint as they scored 8 straight points to take a 10-6 lead in the first quarter.Shelley Gupillan and Andrea Tongco then shot the lights out in the second quarter as they scored 19 of NU’s 30 points in the second quarter as they pulled away from Ateneo for good. NU continued to overpower Ateneo in the third as they took a commanding 60-34 lead coming into the final quarter. From then on, it was a smooth sailing for NU as they kept the Lady Eagles at bay and looked forward to celebrate their second straight title.
The 19-year-old Afril Bernardino led NU again with 18 points, 17 rebounds 3 steals and 3 blocks to earn herself the finals MVP award. Graduating player Andrea Tongco finished the game with 17 points while Rheana Itesi registered 13 points and 9 rebounds. Jolina Go paced the Lady Eagles with 19 points and 5 rebounds while Danica Jose chipped in 12 points, 10 boards and 3 assists in her final tour of duty for the blue squad.
Coach Pat Aquino lauded her girls especially the veterans after the game. “I’m so happy especially sa mga seniors ko. They really stepped up.” said Aquino. In this particular game, it was Andrea Tongco that earned coach Pat’s admiration as she scored 11 points in that furious 2nd quarter run.
With some of his key players graduating, he has set his sights on the future for the Lady Bulldogs. “We’ve been ready for that for the past years since we’ve been building this team. Those rookies are gonna be awesome next year and after that season there will be new ones coming in.” says a beaming Aquino. “The program still continues and I’m happy with the help of management and the school.” added Aquino.
Despite the loss of key players Shelley Gupilan, Tin Bariam, Sam Paig, and Andrea Tongco to graduation, expect the Lady Bulldogs to go for its third straight women's title as Afril Bernardino, who dreams to become the first Filipina to play in the WNBA (see Levi Verora of Tiebreakertimes' story here), is expected to lead her team again with key returnees Gemma Miranda (last year's Finals MVP), Season 78 rookie of the year JD Animam, Season 77 rookie of the year Ria Nabalan, Trixie Antiquera and Janeth Sison.
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