Mud On Their Wings

Aug. 3, Wednesday

The Lady Eagles' Second Straight Loss

During Ateneo's 53-32 loss to FEU that afternoon, veteran Sarah Mercado 
never got her game going.  She made only 1 of her 12 field goal attempts,
and 5 of her 14 free throws.  Here, her fastbreak lay up is thwarted by 

FEU's Elise Yazon.

 Mercado tries to save the ball in this first half sequence.

The Lady Tamaraws got the better of Ateneo rookie Danica Jose.  She had to work doubly hard every possession just to get into good scoring position.

Jose managed a total of 9 boards [5 of which were offensive] 
but she converted only 3 of her 11 field goal attempts, all from close range.

Gutsy Jennifer Dimaano failed to score from the field but 
shot 66% from the stripe to contribute 4 points.

Allana Lim, the Queen Tamaraw,  put in 18 markers, 5 points more than 
Lady Eagles Mercado and Jose combined.  Tamaraw team mate Raiza Palmera

added 15 points.  Lim's clutch baskets in the 4th [she scored 8 in that quarter] helped seal the fate of the slumping Lady Eagles.

 Even wide open, Sarah just couldn't find her touch.

Sami Bo-ot, here, attempting a three sometime during the first half,

scored Ateneo's lone field goal at the 4th Quarter [a 3-pointer].
In the 4th, the girls in blue and white managed a measly 5 points as compared to their opponents' 19.   Ateneo totalled only 9 conversions out of 51 attempts as compared to FEU's 23 conversions out of 66 attempts.

Four days after this heartbreaking loss which gave the Lady Eagles a 2-win, 3-loss record,  they bounced back to defeat the Lady Archers [60-53].   Mercado and Jose combined for 33 points.  The Ateneans also improved on their field goal % [from an all-time low of 17.6%, during their loss to FEU, to a respectable 29.4% during the La Salle match].

Was it Jose's breakout game ?  Yes.  She contributed 17 big ones with a 46.7%

field goal clip.  Mercado's field goal % wasn't her best yet she complemented Jose's 17 with 16 of her own.  [My schedule had me at the Araneta that Sunday afternoon, Aug.7, covering 2 UAAP Men's basketball matches -- The Ateneo Girls Volleyball team had a Shakey's V-League match at the same time too at the Arena in San Juan which I would have loved to cover -- as if !]

I had a brief chat with Coach Quimpo during the Ateneo-UST Men's basketball match at the Araneta, Aug.4, a day after the loss to FEU, and mentioned the diffuculty rookie Danica Jose had, trying to score.  Coach commented that there are simply no short cuts [to becoming a good player, that is].  Well, having a breakout game on one's 6th game is a big step. 

Congrats Coach. Good Luck to the Lady Eagles !

brosi gonzales