Story by Charles Lim/Red Sports. Photos by Low Zheng Yu/Red Sports
Lee Yu Zhen (NTU #19) makes the tough basket. She had a game-high 14 points. (Photo 1 © Low Zheng Yu/Red Sports)
The Wave, Nanyang Technological University, Thursday, October 10, 2019 — With a stellar display of grit on both ends of the court, Nanyang Technological University (NTU) came out ahead with a decisive 59-43 victory against National University of Singapore (NUS), placing them first for SUniG 2019.
In the early minutes, both teams were unable to find the bottom of the net as they struggled to create any offensive momentum. Mavis Chng (NUS #8) would put up the first points of the game through her trey, but they did not hold the lead for long as Au Ziyu (NTU #9) went in for the cutter and managed a deep three to beat the shot clock, putting NTU ahead at 5-3. The scoring went back and forth but NTU managed to maintain the lead at 13-10 to end the quarter.
NTU subsequently picked up their offensive rhythm and went on an 8-0 run as the NUS defense had troubles handling Shannon Tiong (NTU #23) and Choo Jieying (NTU #8), who had a significant height advantage. Bernice Yeo (NUS #4) would end the drought with a long-range jumper, but NUS did not manage to pick up on the offensive side and the quarter ended with NTU extending their lead to 24-14.
Regarding the extension of their lead in the second quarter, Co-Captain Choo Jieying (NTU #8) commented, “We put up a good defense and denied their scoring, plus we were aggressive on the offensive end and went for every ball. We fought hard on the court and I feel that’s how we managed to pull ahead.”
Building on their rhythm from the first half, NTU continued their aggression on offense and managed to further extend their lead. Sharon Lee (NTU #11) managed to draw fouls with her drives through traffic and nail all four shots behind the foul line. Their defense managed to force numerous NUS turnovers which they capitalized through fast break plays. NTU would come up ahead 43-24 to end the third quarter.
Through 5-man rotations, NUS put up full court defense sets that managed to slow down the NTU offense as they put up points on their own through Bernice Yeo (NUS #4) and Kristerbel Pang (NUS #9) to narrow the deficit. However, NTU soon found their way through the NUS defense and sealed a convincing 59-43 win against NUS.
On the loss, NUS Co-Captain Bernice Yeo (NUS #4) shared, “I feel that we played hard as a team and we have improved on both ends throughout SUniG. Perhaps we were too nervous today. We hope to improve even more for IVP and put up a better game in our next match against NTU”
“We are very proud of our team and had the fighting spirit.” Commented Co-Captains Choo Jieying (NTU #8) and Lee Yu Zhen (NTU #19). They added, “Our team is diverse, but we managed to glue well together and step up for this deciding game. We played to our standards today and hope that these standards keep up for IVP. We cannot be complacent.”
This game marks the end of the SUniG Basketball season. From here, the top 4 teams for both men’s and women’s squads will head to compete in the Institute-Varsity-Polytechnic (IVP) games.
For the men, NUS defended their championship whilst NTU took second place, SIM and SUSS took the third and fourth place respectively.
For the women, NTU took first place with their win today whereas NUS came in first runners up. SIT and SMU were the second and third runners up respectively.
Scoring by Quarter
NUS vs NTU
1st Quarter: 10-13
2nd Quarter: 14–24 (4-11)
3rd Quarter: 24-44 (10-20)
4th Quarter: 43–59 (19-15)
Top Scorers
NTU
Lee Yu Zhen (#19) – 14 points
Choo Jieying (#8) – 13 points
NUS
Yeo Yin Siew Bernice (#4) – 10 points
Tan Li Wen (#9) – 9 points
NTU Roster
Amelie Lim Jia Yan (#1), Tan Xiuyi (#6), Mabel Koh Wen Ting (#7), Choo Jieying (#8), Au Ziyu (#9), Lee Mi Yun Sharon (#11), Tan Qi Qing (#12), Yap Winnchis (#15), Koh Si Ting Josephine (#18), Lee Yu Zhen (#19), Tan Hui Xiang (#21), Tay Zi Qi Tabitha (#22), Shannon Tiong Zilin (#23), Chen Xiaona (#68)
NUS Roster
Tay Jinwen (#2), Lim Jia Yi Tamelly (#3), Yeo Yin Siew Bernice (#4), Angela Chen Zhiyao (#5), Chua Jin Xia, Valerie (#6), Tan Yen Yi (#7), Chng Shi Qi Mavis (#8), Kristerbel Pang Wan Cheng (#9), Lin Yi Han (#12), Tan Li Wen (#14), Chok Xin Yan (#15), Carisia Lee Jia Yu (#17), Koh Hwee Ching (#18), Mandy Leoh Yun Wan (#22), Michelle Chew Jie Er (#27)
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