UAAP women's hoops: Joson, Makanjoula show way as Blue Eagles repel Lady Warriors

ANTIPOLO — Jhazmin Joson and Sarah Makanjoula stuffed the stat sheet to pace the Ateneo Blue Eagles past the winless UE Lady Warriors, 73-62, in the UAAP women's basketball tournament at the Ynares Center here on Sunday.

Ending their first round campaign at fourth with a 4-3 slate, Ateneo fended off a tough UE challenge that stymied the Blue Eagles from building a big lead.

As late as the fourth salvo, UE were within three, 53-56, after a Joyce Terrinal triple.

But Joson negated the bucket with three makes from the charity stripe as she was fouled from beyond the arc.

Ylyssa Eufemiano then scored on back-to-back buckets to push the lead back to double digits, 63-53, with 5:16 left in the game.

UE foreign student-athlete Kamba Kone tried to keep her team afloat but Joson was able to telegraph a pass to Sandra Villacruz for the dagger, 71-55, with 2:09 left in the ball game.

Ateneo head coach LA Mumar praised the Lady Warriors' challenge against his team.

"I wanna give kudos kay Coach Ai [Aileen Lebornio]. Really came up with a great game plan against us. I think this was their best game in the UAAP. That team is well-coached, so all kudos to them." he said after the game.

Joson flirted with another triple-double as she finished with 20 points, 10 assists, and seven rebounds. Of note that the guard also took 16 free throws — making 12 of them.

She also had three steals and a block to her name.

"For me, my goal was really to be consistent, try to be consistent for the girls. I have to start them well for us to play good throughout the game." said Joson.

Meanwhile, Makanjoula tallied a monster double-double of 17 points and 21 boards. She was also a pesk in the paint with a whopping seven blocks on the Lady Warriors.

Over in UE, Terrinal topped the scoring column with 14 markers. She also had eight rebounds, six assists, and four steals.

UE remains winless in seven outings for the season.

The scores:

Ateneo (73) -- Joson 20, Makanjoula 17, Miranda 14, Villacruz 13, Eufemiano 7, Calago 2, Nieves 0, Navarro 0, Peñaranda 0, Fetalvero 0, Angala 0, Cruza 0, Perez 0.
UE (62) -- Terrinal 14, Anastacio 11, Kone 10, Caraig 9, Lorena 7, Nama 5, Paule 5, Sajol 1, Zamudio 0, Silva 0, Gervacio 0.

Quarterscores: 20-14, 36-29, 51-45, 73-62