Meet the new finalists, same as the old finalists.
ABFII Perbanas and the University of Surabaya (Ubaya) continued their dominance of the National Collegiate Basketball League (Libamanas) women’s division as they advanced to meet in the final for the third consecutive year.
Ubaya, the 2007 champion, reached the championship game by beating STIE Indonesia 75-60 at Gelora Bung Karno Basketball Hall on Monday. Defending champion Perbanas won 79-68 against Solo State University.
Ubaya made a shaky start to the semifinals as STIE jumped out to a 17-4 lead in the first quarter, but assistant coach Sapto Wahyu said there was a reason for that.
‘Since we arrived in Jakarta last weekend, we had never practiced on the court,’ Sapto said. ‘The girls just needed time to get used to the court.’
Given time to adapt, Ubaya began to whittle down the deficit in the second quarter. Tougher defense and better shooting from Devy Yuanita helped the East Java side close to within 28-25 at halftime.
A Devy 3-pointer gave Ubaya its first lead at 40-38 in the third quarter, and it took a 52-49 edge going into the fourth. STIE briefly pulled even at 52 but could not keep up as Ubaya finished the game on a 23-8 run.
Devy and Marjorice Fedora led Ubaya with 14 points each, while Irene Gabrielle and Sumiati each scored 13 points. Indonesian national team player Jacklin Ibo scored a game-high 26 points for STIE, but none of her teammates reached double figures.
STIE coach Margono said his players were not mentally tough enough to see out the game.
‘We still led in the first and second quarters, but the players’ lack of confidence kept them from improving,’ Margono said. ‘Ubaya is a very experienced team. We made lots of personal fouls.’
Marina led Perbanas with a game-high 24 points, and Hanum Pasha scored 18. Yulindawati scored 23 points to lead Solo State, while captain Maharani AJ and Lusi Puspitasari each added 11.
Perbanas coach Jacky Hatta was not entirely pleased despite the victory, saying his squad leaned too heavily on national team players Felicia, Marina, Natasha Clara and Wulan Ayuningrum to make the team run.
‘We were struggling in the third quarter when I had to rest Marina and Natasha due to foul trouble. I think this team is too dependent to those national team players and we shouldn’t be like that,’ Jacky said.
He also said the team expected a tough fight against perennial rival Ubaya in today’s final, which tips off at 6 p.m.
‘We have to be mentally ready to retain our trophy,’ Jacky said. ‘Several Ubaya players were in the East Kalimantan team that won last year’s National Games, while Perbanas’ players, who all were in the Jakarta team, only finished fifth. That, I think, showed Ubaya’s quality, so we have to be carefull.’
The Ubaya men’s team also advanced to the final after a 68-57 defeat of 2008 runner-up Pelita Harapan University. Ubaya will face defending champion Bhakti Pembangunan or Perbanas, whose semifinal finished after press time, in today’s 8 p.m. men’s final.
Taken from : thejakartaglobe.com, Nov 24, 2009
