The De La Salle University Lady Archers survived a furious 12 – 5 4th quarter run by the Lady Tamaraws to stay unbeaten in the UAAP Season 77 women’s basketball tournament with a final score of 46-43, Wednesday.
The Lady Tamaraws started the game slow. They shot a miserable 0 of 12 to start the game while the Lady Archers blitzed their way to a 6-0 lead with Nicole Garcia leading the way. The Lady Tamaraws would then respond with their own 6-0 run, starting with their first field goal make at the 3:36 mark of the opening salvo. The Ladies from Taft closed the quarter out with another 6-0 to gain a 6-point advantage in the contest.
The lead of the Lady Archers increased to 10 points during the end of the half largely due to the hot shooting of Nicole Garcia. Garcia scored 7 of her game high 15 points in this quarter. Moreover, the Lady Archers went to the charity stripe 10 times during the quarter compared to just 4 attempts by the Lady Tamaraws.
During the final quarter though the Lady Tamaraws were able to bring the lead oh the league leaders down to just a solitary point with a minute to go in the game. The huge rally of the Tamaraws was led by the imposing center of the Tamaraws, Claire Castro, and guard Jacqueline Castro, who scored all 9 of her points in the last quarter. April Siat was able to put the lead down to 1 with a timely basket with 1:13 left in the game. A costly turnover committed by the Lady Archers gave the Tamaraws a chance to win the game but Claire Castro was not able to connect on two baskets. Tricia Piatos was able to connect on two free throws to give the Lady Archers a 3-point cushion with 3.3 seconds left in the game. The Lady Tamaraws were not able to attempt a shot thus giving DLSU the win.
Nicole Garcia led all scorers with 15 points, on 7/12 shooting, and 11 rebounds. She stuffed the other stats as well with 2 assists and 2 steals. For the Tamaraws, Claire Castro led them with 12 points and 16 rebounds. Tamaraws’ super-sub Angel Arellano scored 10 points, grabbed 7 rebounds, dished out 4 assists and stole the ball 4 times but committed a game-high 6 turnovers.
