UP's Maw steps up in Onoh's absence

MANILA, Philippines -- Life goes on for the University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons, despite not having UAAP Season 86 Rookie of the Year Favour Onoh the rest of the season.

UP on Saturday dealt the University of the East Lady Red Warriors a 24-point beating, 67-43.

Against the Recto-based cagers, UP banked on the hot game of center Achrissa Maw, who finished with 18 points, six rebounds, a steal and a block on an efficient 5-of-6 shooting.

Guard Louna Ozar, who struggled with just six points on a 3-of-10 clip, showed her all-around prowess with 10 rebounds, seven assists and seven steals.

Maw, after the game, said that the team has “no choice” but to fill in the void left by Onoh.

“What role is given to us, what my role will be, I just have to work it all the way. I am not thinking about anything else,” she said. 

In UP’s opening day loss against Ateneo, Maw also provided the spark with 23 points, three rebounds and two steals.

"I think for me, in every game, the goal is just to win. I think there's no [further] motivation for me. We are just thinking of playing to win and to perform what we are working on in practice, to execute what we are doing." 

The absence of Onoh further amplified the importance of the big man, Ozar stressed after the game.

“Right now, we know it already and we feel more that the position of Favour is really important,” she said. 

“We really need her because it’s harder to get the rebounds especially if the other team has a big man. It’s hard,” the 5-foot-9 guard added.

Onoh averaged 11.0 points, 14.9 rebounds, 2.9 blocks, 1.4 steals, and 1.4 assists for UP last season.

And with her offensive game not clicking early, Ozar said she just focused on doing the other things.

“Today I was not able to contribute in scoring but I did my best to do the other job, rebounding especially today against UE where we have more the privilege of height.”

UP head coach Paul Ramos said that the team has been motivated even though Onoh is out for the season, especially since the 18-year-old took the role of cheerleader for now.

“To answer that very simply, it will show during the remaining games. If we’ve learned how to win without Favour. But I’m happy that today, we were able to get the first win,” he told reporters.

“Talking about Favour, everyone has been inspired, preparing for this season. She’s a big contributor to our performance. But the nice thing about it, the upside of it is everybody is so motivated, so inspired that I feel that the loss of Favour will distributed to amongst these girls,” he added.

“Yes, we have been adapting to playing without Favour but we still have a lot to improve on so that we can really compete better against those very highly performing teams like Ateneo, NU, UST, even La Salle and FEU.”

UP is now holding a 1-1 win-loss card. They earlier lost to Ateneo, 79-68, which made the team “hungrier and madder,” but at the same time put them more together, Ozar said.

The Fighting Maroons will try to win their second straight game against the unbeaten National University Lady Bulldogs on Wednesday afternoon at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.