Lady Eagles slip past Amazons for fifth win in UAAP 74

The Ateneo de Manila Lady Eagles won their first game in the second round of Women’s Basketball for UAAP Season 74. The Lady Eagles eked out a 61-57 win over the University of the East Amazons on August 21, Sunday, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Team Captain Sarah Mercado opened things for the Lady Eagles but back to back UE baskets gave the Amazons a 2 point advantage over Ateneo. Freshman Danica Jose and another basket from Mercado brought the lead back to Ateneo, 6-4. But the Amazons recovered and fired 6 straight points. At the end of the first 10 minutes of play, Ateneo was down 12-18.

At the start of the second quarter, the Lady Eagles made a 7-0 run to grab the lead, 19-18. Ateneo scored 19 points in the second quarter to UE’s 6. This allowed the Lady Eagles to take a 7 point lead at halftime, 31-24.

The Amazons wrestled the lead back from the Lady Eagles in the third quarter, firing 21 points. The Lady Eagles relied mostly on Mercado who scored 9 of the 13 points of Ateneo in the third canto. The Lady Eagles were down by a single digit at the end of 30 minutes of play, 44-45.

The fourth quarter was played with a lot of heart for both teams. Neither team was able to lead by more than 3 points in the quarter. In the end, the Lady Eagles, who played without Head Coach Chris Quimpo, was able to overcome the attacks of the Amazons to get their fifth win of the season.

Sarah Mercado led the team with a double-double performance: 16 points, 14 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals.

The Lady Eagles will face the University of Santo Tomas Tigresses next. They will face each other on Wednesday, August 24, 3 pm at the Blue Eagle Gym.

SCORES:
ATENEO (61): Mercado 16, Bo-ot 8, Morales 7, Jose 6, Ong 5, Aseron 4, Tiu 4, Dimaano 4, Chua 4, Estrada 2, Javier 1, Tantoco 0

UE (57): Resultay 22, Ventura 16, Vergara 9, Junsay 6, Doqueza 2, Tan 2, Domino 0, Abarquez 0, Puno 0, Floralde 0