Lady Eagles bow to Lady Falcons

The Lady Eagles regroup hug

It's going to be a long season for the Ateneo Lady Eagles as the rookie laden Team from Katipunan lost their third straight game at the hands of 2004 Champion Adamson Lady Falcons 70-45. The Lady Falcon’s full court press created lots of opportunities for them as the Lady Eagles piled up so many turnovers as if they were points. The defending champions are now back to the drawing board as they open the season with three consecutive losses with the other two losses coming from the other contenders UST and FEU. Treena Limgenco had a hard time scoring since she was shackled by the Adamson defense, Mariana Lopa had her moments but was barely a factor, Hila Indigne’s had a hard time fighting off bigger opponents, Rona Co was swamped everytime she got the ball and Anne Gomez was just cuteness personified on court. There were also so many free throw misses and the Lady Eagles always had a hand in their face everytime they took a shot.

Treena signals a four

Hope springs eternal for the Lady Eagles and we believe that the team has a lot of growing up to do. Remember the veterans that are not with the team anymore - UAAP MVP Cassie Tioseco, Mythical Five Selectees AJ Barracoso and at Quimpo, hard nosed Guard-Forward Cheryl Ngo, Rookie sensations Crystal Ballentyne and Sarah Mercado which all sums up to the entire first five of the champion team last year. That is why the rookies this year will have to grow up early for the Lady Eagles to even have a decent finish. Here are some tidbits on what I witnessed on the first Lady Eagles game shit year.

The Belgian Waffle Wobbles

Karen Columna – Her middle name is Scoring Machine. She will most probably be our primary scorer come the second half of the season and in the next few years. Has good basketball sense, shooting range and confidence in her shot.

TD Estrada – As seen in the game she knocked out two three pointers but had a hard time driving to the lane. If she could be set up nicely I believe she will complement Treena and Karen’s offense when they are defended well.

Win Trinidad – She is Kat Quimpo reborn. For someone small, I got to commend this girl for being brave enough to take the charge twice against the big centers of Adamson. That means she will not back down from anything. Her ball handling skills will definitely help us break all types of press thrown at us.

Treena in a bind

Ish Tiu – Is agile for a big girl, has a good nose for the ball and is a sound defender. I hope she drives more to the basket to create opportunities for him and to the rest of her team mates.

Sam Ong – She is shifty guard that plays good defense and hope she improves her free throw shooting though. Inthink she needs to bulk up so that she won’t be thrown away if bumped by bigger guards.

Corrine Javier – She will need a lot of growing up since she will be banging bodies with bigger and wider opponents down under. She needs to establish a low post game and be steady on the box out.

I'd rather have them in Lady Eagles uniforms
than watching on the stands

Considering that the team is rookie laden which had lots of turnovers, they actually knew how to break the press of Adamson. The Lady Falcons type of harassing defense did wonders to them as ball taps and loose balls were created because of that proactive style of defending the Lady Eagles. Give these kids more time to learn from these mistakes and hopefully next year (I hope next round) they can give these teams a run for their money. In the meantime lets pray that the Lady Eagles mature faster and that Coach Haydee Ong will be able to guide them through their maturing process.