National University moved a win away from another elimination-round sweep with a 76-59 drubbing of Ateneo in the UAAP women’s basketball tournament Saturday at the Ynares Center in Antipolo City.
After a slow start, the Lady Bulldogs gathered steam in the middle quarters also saw them limit the Lady Eagles to just 23 points in that stretch to break the game wide open.
Kelli Hayes and Angel Surada led the charge as they turned a precarious two-point lead in the first quarter to a commanding 58-41 spread with 10 minutes to spare in the game – a lead which they padded to as many as 21 in the fourth period on the way to their 13th straight win and 93rd since July 13, 2014.
“I’m just happy na we can accomplish the feat again of having six straight 14-0s. It’s an accumulation of all the hard work that the girls have been doing. They deserve it, so now we have to be ready for the next steps,” National University head coach Pat Aquino said.
The win was a big one for the Lady Bulldogs after surviving a huge scare from University of Santo Tomas last Wednesday, where they escaped with a 74-70 win.
Surada finished with a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds as Hayes and Rhena Itesi also chipped in 10 apiece.
Jack Animam filled the stats sheet with eight points, 10 rebounds, three assists and three steals for the Lady Bulldogs who will target a return trip to the finals when they take on the struggling UE Lady Warriors on October 30.
In other game, Grace Irebu’s towering presence was in full display in UST’s 57-53 win over Adamson.
The reigning MVP churned out a monster performance with 27 points and 20 rebounds as the Growling Tigresses wrapped up the elimination round as the two-seed with an 11-3 record.
The Congolese student-athlete scattered 13 points in the payoff period, including two big baskets in the end game which sandwiched a Kat Araja three to keep the Lady Falcons at bay 55-52 with 26 seconds left in the game.
