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Ateneo nips UP to go 2-0 on Guytingco winner

Katrina Guytingco came clutch for Ateneo to go 2-0 in UAAP Women's Basketball.
By Kevin Estrada

QUEZON CITY -- In a see-saw Katipunan Derby at the Big Dome, Ateneo went to Katrina Guytingco to eke out a 52-51 win over UP in Women's basketball action earlier at noon.

The fifth-year small forward scored on the drive for the uncontested lay up with 15.5 ticks left to give John Flores and the Lady Eagles their 2-0 card for a top spot in the standings.

State U kept its peskiness against their much taller rivals but Ateneo foiled their final play to go down the cellar at 0-2.

Coming off the bench, fifth-year power forward Cara Buendia top-scored for Ateneo for 10 markers in which nine Lady Eagles scored at least one field goal that displayed their balanced scoring.

Guards Iriss Isip and Daphne Esplana carried the load for the Lady Maroons with 16 and 12 respectively but their second half uprising came short in the end.

Ateneo jumped into an early lead at tip-off, establishing a 9 point lead en route to a 16-8 lead at the end of the first.

UP then tied the game at 19 in the second canto with a 11-3 run, but Buendia's first  seven points keep the Lady Eagles ahead by 2 at the break.

The see-saw action continued in the third with UP and Ateneo exchanging shots before Jonette Uy De Ong took the Lady Eagles ahead 38-36 on a buzzer-beating triple.

It was the same scenario in the fourth quarter when Isip went on takeover mode, firing in a triple with 31.6 seconds left to give UP its final lead, 51-50.

However, Guytingco got the last laugh for the 10th and final lead change of the game, allowing them to get bragging rights in the battle of Katipunan after Cara Buendia capped off her best game of the year with a steal in their last defensive play.

THE SCORES

ATENEO 52 -- Buendia 10, Deacon 9, Go 7, Yam 6, Guytingco 6, Joson 6,Uy De Ong 3, Villamor 3, Cancio 2

UP 51 -- Isip 16, Esplana 12, Ordoveza 7, Domingo 7, Bascon 3, Ongsiako 3, Rodas 2, Pesquera 1

Quarter scores: 16-8, 25-23, 38-36, 52-51

Follow him on Twitter: @KevinLEstrada