Only one win now separates the De La Salle University Lady Archers from the second seed of the UAAP Season 79 Women’s Basketball Tournament, takign a 65-48 wire-to-wire win over the University of the Philippines Lady Maroons.
Khate Castillo shot four out of six from beyond the arc to lead La Salle with 22 points today at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City. Snow Penaranda also came big with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
“Yung first half it wasn’t La Salle basketball,” commented Lady Archers coach Cholo Villanueva. “We were too complacent on our approach of the game. But good thing the team respondent on the third quarter so we were able to pull off a win.”
UP kept it close at the break as it only allowed La Salle to have a 25-23 edge at halftime. It was in the third quarter when the Lady Archers pulled away. A 16-2 run capped off by two unanswered treys from Khate Castiilo gave La Salle a commanding 49-30 lead.
La Salle then had its biggest lead of the ballgame in the dying seconds of the period when Kat Nunez’s basket made it 54-34 just before the third quarter. From then on, the Taft-based school maintained its momentum in the fourth quarter as it prevailed 65-48 over UP.
Villanueva was pleased with the win as it was La Salle’s second straight victory after two consecutive losses. “But there’s no time to relax for us. We still need a win to solidify a twice-to-beat advantage in the Final Four,” he added.
Inside points and three point shooting won the game for La Salle today. The Lady Archers had 36 inside points and shot 31.25 percent from rainbow country against UP’s 24 and 18.18 percent. Therese Medina and Maan Wong paced UP with 14 and 10 points respectively.
Up next for La Salle (10-3) will be Ateneo de Manila University at 8:00 AM while UP (2-11) shall face National University at 1:00 PM. Both games will be held on November 15 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.
“There’s no better motivation than to beat Ateneo because they’re our rivals. So even though they want to spoil the party, we’ll be ready,” Villanueva concluded.
The Scores:
DLSU (65) – Castillo 22, Penaranda 13, Arciga 8, Claro 6, Vergara 5, Torres 3, Nunez 2, Dagdagan 2, Vela 2, Figueroa 2, Revillosa 0, Gonzales 0, Roxas 0, Ali Mohamed El Hadad 0, Malarde 0, Javier 0.
UP (48) – Medina 14, Wong 10, Pesquera 8, Esplana 5, Aliermo 5, Tan 4, Ordoveza 2, Rodas 0, Cruz 0, Franco 0, Lapid 0, Viray 0, Gatpatan 0, Ongsiako 0, Villanueva 0.
Quarterscores: 16-6, 25-23, 54-34, 65-48.
