MANILA — The National University remained unstoppable in the UAAP women’s basketball tournament after the team once again swept the elimination round.
At the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay on Wednesday, the Lady Bulldogs romped the UE Lady Warriors, 80-62, to complete a 14-0 eliminations sweep for the sixth straight year.
The NU did not waste time in pummeling UE, quickly opening a double-digit lead that ballooned to as high as 26, with 49-23 at halftime.
Jack Animam led the Lady Bulldogs’ balanced offense that saw all of their players scoring with 13 points as they won for the 94th straight time overall dating back to the start of the 2014 season.
The victory gave them an outright seat in the best-of-three finals and forced a step-ladder playoff for the other finals berth.
Adamson, which ousted La Salle from playoff contention with an 87-86 win in another game scheduled at the UST Quadripavillion in Manila on Wednesday, will play Far Eastern University in the essential quarterfinals.
The winner of the showdown between the Lady Falcons and the Lady Tamaraws will then play the UST Golden Tigresses, who have a twice-to-beat advantage, in the semifinals with the victors facing the Lady Bulldogs in the finals.
Christine Cortezano made a game-high 20 points for the Lady Warriors, who crashed to the bottom of the standings at 1-13.
The scores:
NU (80): Animam 13, Goto 11, Bartolo 9, Clarin 9, Hayes 6, Itesi 6, Surada 6, Pingol 4, Cac 3, Canuto 3, Dimaunahan 3, Cacho 2, Del Carmen 2, Fabruada 2, Harada 1.
UE (62): Cortezano 20, Terrinal 17, Ganade 14, Pedregosa 5, Cuadero 3, Ordas 3, Caraig 0, Fernandez 0, Nama 0, Tinio 0.
Quarterscores: 28-12, 49-23, 69-46, 80-62. (PNA)
