NU Lady Bulldogs after a historic 100th straight win. –UAAP PHOTO
National University redefined dominance once again on Wednesday, picking apart University of the Philippines, 79-44, for the program’s 100th straight victory in the UAAP women’s basketball.
The Lady Bulldogs came out the gates hard, holding the Lady Maroons to 31-6, in the opening frame to cruise to the milestone outing at UST Quadricentennial Pavilion in Manila.
“The goal today was to bounce back from the terrible defensive game against UST last time out,” coach Aris Dimaunahan said in the post game presser.
“The emphasis was on how well we could defend today. And I thought we did better today than the UST game, and we wanted to reestablish our identity today which is on the defensive side of the game,” he went on.
Mikka Cacho topscored with 15 points, Marylene Solis added nine while Princes Fabruada eight more as NU extended its string of victories that began since losing to La Salle in Game 3 of the Finals back in Oct. 5, 2013.
“We had to bounce back because we knew we played sloppily against UST,” said Cacho, who has been a part of NU since 2016. “We’ve been excited since Tuesday night to execute our game plan. ”
Save for Julia Barroquillo and Gheralin Ico—a pair of rookies—NU saw each one of its player contribute in the scoring effort which helped keep the streak untouchable.
NU’s Mikka Cacho vs two UP defenders. –UAAP PHOTO
The Lady Bulldogs’ fabled win streak has long been the standard in all of Philippine basketball. Ateneo logged 39 wins and saw that four-year record end last May. Crispa, meanwhile, turned in 21 straight in the pro ranks.
Since the streak began, NU has defeated every opposing UAAP school at least 12 times.
Monday’s feat was unmatched, but Camille Clarin said it was simply a tribute to those who built the foundation from which this crop of Lady Bulldogs heaped this latest win—the squad’s fourth this season.
“Something like this is super monumental, because you think about when the streak started and how different basketball is then. [But] some of us feels it’s a different entity in itself because some of us are only 16-0, 20-0. I feel it’s not for us, but everyone for us—all the coaches, all the players that we’ve witnessed, we played with—this is for them,” she said.
Dimaunahan echoed his ward’s take, and paid homage to the architect behind much of the streak—96 of those wins, to be exact..
“Coach Pat Aquino, the legendary coach Pat Aquino … this win is for him. He’s the one who started the winning culture of this basketball team,” the young mentor said.
Most especially, the players who came before us: Afril Bernardino, Jack Animam and Risa Paig. Trixie Antiquiera, Andrea Tongco, Monique del Carmen, Kaye Pingol, Gemma Miranda, Tin Abriam, Janet Sison, the list goes on. Rhena Itesi.”
“Those guys started all of this and we are honoring them by playing hard every day, practicing well every day,” Dimaunahan said. “We hope to continue what they started.”