In what was both schools’ final game of the UAAP Season 79 Women’s Basketball Tournament first round, the De La Salle University Lady Archers thumped archrivals Ateneo de Manila University Lady Eagles, 67-57, Saturday afternoon at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
“We were mentally focused for 40 minutes. All the rules on offense and defense, we were on point. Our intensity didn’t waver. We were playing with a purpose. When we’re playing Ateneo, there’s no other motivation but to beat them,” commented La Salle mentor Cholo Villanueva.
Lady Archers captain Camille Claro led La Salle with 16 points. Claro was followed by Khate Castillo with 15 points. Snow Penaranda also produced eight points and 16 rebounds for the Taft-based school.
La Salle raced to a 34-20 cushion over Ateneo at halftime. Deep in the third quarter, La Salle led by 10 points above Ateneo, but a three-point play by Jolina Go helped the Lady Eagles cut the deficit to 37-44.
Before the end of the third quarter, Chay Vergara scored to give La Salle a 46-39 lead over Ateneo.
Early in the fourth quarter, baskets from Go and Akiko Tomita brought Ateneo within 44-48. It then became a seesaw game between the two teams, before Go unleashed a trey to start hopes of a comeback at 52-55 with 3:50 to go.
From then on, though, the Lady Archers went on a 12-3 run capped off by Claro’s four straight points which sealed the win for La Salle. After 40 minutes, La Salle prevailed 67-57 over Ateneo.
Villanueva had nothing but praise for Claro after the game. “She’s very athletic but today she showed her basketball IQ has improved tremendously from last year. She is very calm and composed inside. Even though Ateneo was making a run, we still knew that she was in control,” he remarked.
Snow Peñaranda also filled the stat sheet with eight points, 16 rebounds, four assists, a steal, and two swats.
What sealed the deal for La Salle was their three point shooting. La Salle shot 34.62 percent from beyond the arc compared to Ateneo’s 23.53 percent. Villanueva credited La Salle’s efficiency from downtown to Penaranda.
“It’s all made possible by Snow Penaranda. Snow sacrificed herself, made the extra pass and got Chay Vergara, Khate Castillo, Martha Dagdagan open shots. I give kudos to Snow for sacrificing her points and making the right play,” Villanueva shared.
The next games for La Salle and Ateneo are still to be announced. La Salle end the first round with a record of 6-1 while Ateneo do so at 2-5.
The Scores:
DLSU (67) – Claro 16, Castillo 15, Penaranda 8, Vergara 7, Vela 6, Dagdagan 4, Roxas 4, Revillosa 4, Nunez 2, Arciga 1, Gonzales 0.
ADMU (57) – Go 18, Tomita 12, Yam 10, Guytingco 7, Moslares 6, Newsome 4, Cancio 0, Uy De Ong 0, Deacon 0, Villamor 0.
Quarterscores: 19-12, 34-20, 46-39, 67-57
