UAAP: NU turns back Ateneo to reach 11th straight finals appearance in women's hoops

Defending champion National University turned back Ateneo, 67-66, to continue its dominance in the UAAP Season 88 women’s basketball stepladder semifinals on Wednesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The Lady Bulldogs are entering the finals for the 11th straight season and will face top seed University of Santo Tomas in a best-of-three showdown for the third consecutive time.

Angel Surada broke the 66-all deadlock in the endgame after splitting her free throws to finish with 15 points, along with eight rebounds, two assists, and six steals.

Marga Villanueva dropped a team-high 16 points, while Tin Cayabyab and Karl Pingol had 16 and 10 markers, respectively.

With four seconds left to play and a game extension in sight, soon to be crowned MVP Pingol, missed a three-point shot, which Surada picked up for a putback before being fouled by Ateneo’s Sarah Makanjuola.

It was all NU needed to find its way back to the finals after trailing six points, 60-66, in the last 2:35 of the game.

With Kacey Dela Rosa missing four straight layups, Pingol, Cayabyab, and Villanueva took turns to tie the game at 66-all.

“I’m speechless. We weren't playing that well during this game. But the positive thing is having our players because they didn’t quit,” said NU head coach DA Olan.

“Hanggang dulo. Kahit things were not going our way. Yung kagustuhang manalo hindi ko maituturo sa kanila. Sila mismo, they didn't quit hanggang nag final buzzer. Nakalusot kami. Nakatiyamba kami. Kudos to these players.”

(Until the end, even when things weren't going our way. Their desire to win - that's something I can't teach them. It came from them, they didn't quit until the final buzzer. We escaped. We got lucky. Kudos to these players.)

Two-time MVP Dela Rosa had an 18-point, 22-rebound double-double that went with six assists and three steals in a losing effort, as Ateneo will finish on the podium for the first time after three consecutive fourth-place finishes.

Camille Malagar and Kailah Oani added 18 and nine points, respectively.

The scores:

NU (67) – Villanueva 17, Surada 15, Cayabyab 15, Pingol 10, Solis 6, Betanio 4, D. Medina 1, S. Medina 0, Garcia 0, Pring 0. 

Ateneo (66) – Dela Rosa 18, Malagar 18, Oani 9, Makanjuola 7, Lopez 5, Villacruz 4, Batongbakal 3, De Luna 2, Cancio 0, Olivenza 0.

Quarterscores: 12-12, 34-36, 49-48, 67-66.

—JMB, GMA Integrated News