By Vince Matthew Jaramilla

As a first-time starter in the league, Far Eastern University (FEU) Lady Tamaraw rookie Yvette Villanueva stood out despite facing defeat against the Ateneo de Manila University (AdMU) Blue Eagles, 53-69, in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) women's basketball tournament earlier today, September 29, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.

Within 25 minutes of play, the green-and-gold big woman produced 18 points on 50 percent shooting. She also put up nine rebounds, one short of a double-double performance.

In a post-game interview with FEU Advocate, Villanueva shared the bittersweet feeling she had of having a great performance in a loss.

"[It feels] good kasi 'yun 'yung unang score ko na ganu'n kataas pero nandu'n pa rin 'yung gigil ko kasi gusto ko talaga[ng] manalo... Hindi pa rin satisfying 'yung feeling. Napakita ko pa rin [naman] 'yung ipinapatrabaho sa'kin ni Coach [Raiza Palmera-Dy] (It feels good because that's my first performance with that high of a score but I'm still mad because I really want to win. The feeling is still unsatisfying. But I did get to execute what Coach Raiza Palmera-Dy wanted me to do)," she said.

Head coach Palmera-Dy deviated from her usual starting lineup as she put in Villanueva and Jhailruth Libor with usual starters MJ Manguiat, Maxene Dela Torre, and Maria Fe Paras.

FEU's struggle against Ateneo's size and sheer defense was immediately noticeable with already two shot clock violations and a 0-4 hole in the first two minutes.

Despite the rough start, the Lady Tams were able to cause a 4-all deadlock at the 5:30 mark through pure hustle and the Eagles' sloppy errors.

However, the Morayta squad's only points for the remainder of the first quarter would come from a Manguiat triple with a minute left, ending the frame at 7-18.

In the second quarter, a three-minute FEU scoring drought turned into a 7-2 run capped off with a trey by Lady Tam Libor which forced AdMU to call for a break halfway through, 14-20.

After the timeout, the green-and-gold squad continued outscoring the blue-and-white team, cutting the lead to just four and forcing another Ateneo pause, 19-23.

Unfortunately, said timeout caused a 5-0 run from the Katipunan cagebelles to go into halftime at 19-28.

The third canto would expose the Lady Tamaraws' size disadvantage again as the lead inflated to 16 at 28-44 with three minutes left through the Eagles' points in the paint. 

Coach Raiza then sued for time in hopes of sparking a comeback, but a double-digit lead still riddled them at the end of the third quarter, 34-48.

To start the fourth frame, the Morayta-based squad was able to cut the deficit back to a single digit behind Villanueva's putback and a Manguiat triple, 40-48.

However, FEU was unable to keep up as Ateneo went on to feed their bigs and shoot lights out from beyond the arc, getting left behind in the dust until the final buzzer, 53-69.

Villanueva recorded 10 of her 18 markers in the final canto.

Manguiat was the only other Lady Tam with double-digit markers with 10, followed closely by Libor with 8.

In the same interview, Villanueva expressed the need to really do their best to come out with wins.

"Kayang-kaya talaga 'yung game na 'yun, eh… Happy naman sina coach pero kailangan pa rin naming ipanalo [and gawin namin 'yung best namin] para mas masaya kami (We really could have won that game. The coaches are happy with our performance but we still need to win and do our best so that we're happier)," she stated.

The Lady Tamaraw then mentioned their plan to utilize their week of rest to bounce back in their next game against defending champions University of Santo Tomas (UST).

"May one week kami to prepare. Magtatrabaho talaga kami this week kasi alam nating defending champions ang UST so hindi kami basta-basta lang magre-relax (We have one week to prepare. We will really work hard this week because we know that UST is the defending champion so we will not just relax," Villanueva added.

Now with a 1-5 standing, FEU's last game of the first round of eliminations against UST will be on Saturday, October 5, at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.

(Photo by James Neil Tamayo/FEU Advocate)