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NU Lady Bulldogs complete elimination sweep, claim Finals berth
The National University Lady Bulldogs dominated the Far Eastern University Lady Tamaraws, 86-58, in the Season 87 women's basketball tournament on Saturday, November 23, at the FilOil EcoOil Centre in San Juan, completing a 14-game sweep of the elimination round and guaranteeing an outright UAAP finals berth.
This marks NU's tenth consecutive Finals appearance, having only lost to De La Salle University in Season 76 and the University of Santo Tomas last season.
Photo Courtesy: UAAP Media
“The goal is to have the opportunity to go back to the finals, and with this win, we finally got it. But the work doesn’t stop there,” said NU head coach Aris Dimaunahan.
“It just gave us the opportunity to be there in that stage that we want, so we can continue our goal of winning another championship.”
NU never let FEU establish a rhythm as they jumped off to a 16-0 start and led 29-10 after the first period.
All 14 players who saw action tallied at least two points, with Cielo Pagdulagan leading the way with 11 points, demonstrating the depth of their roster. Aloha Betanio and Angel Surada scored eight markers apiece, Jill Talas recorded nine, while Daniella Alterado, Pringle Fabruada, Jainaba Konateh, and Nicole Pring each finished with seven.
NU's victory was largely due to ball movement, which produced 32 assists on its 33 field goals.
FEU had the same record as the previous season, finishing the campaign in seventh place with a 3-11 record.
Victoria Pasilang led the charge for the Lady Tamaraws in their final battle this season with 18 points and five rebounds while MJ Manguiat added 15 markers but committed 11 turnovers.
NU will have a lengthy vacation before the best-of-three finals series, where they will wait to see who wins amongst Ateneo (8-6), Adamson (9-5) and UST (12-2), which has a two-to-beat lead.
The Scores:
NU 86 – Pagdulagan 11, Talas 9, Betanio 8, Surada 8, Alterado 7, Fabruada 7, Konateh 7, Pring 7, Pingol 6, Clarin 5, Sois 3, Villanueva 3, Ico 3, Canuto 2.
FEU 58 – Pasilang 18, Manguiat 15, Salvani 8, Nagma 6, Villanueva 5, Ong 4, Gavaran 2, Lopez 0, Paras 0, Dela Torre 0.
Quarter Scores: 29-10, 44-30, 62-43, 86-58.
