The Lady Archers find themselves in an unenvious position in the UAAP Season 79 Women’s Basketball Tournament Finals.
La Salle went so close to completing a comeback against defending champions National University Lady Bulldogs as it cut the latter’s highest lead at 55-67 to 70-71 courtesy of threes from Khate Castillo and Camille Claro with just a minute remaining in the contest.
However, NU guard Ria Nabalan waxed hot shot and two consecutive treys to thwart La Salle’s rally as the Lady Bulldogs prevailed 74-77 over the Lady Archers to move one game away from a three-peat at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
Khate Castillo scored 11 points in the fourth quarter to rally La Salle back
“(Nabalan) made a tough shot that we gave up. The sad part about it she made it, at least for us we fought until the end,” commented La Salle coach Cholo Villanueva.
The lady cagers from Taft Avenue held the lead during halftime, 39-28, but failed to go to the charity stripe, going just 2-for-8 from the line compared to 18 attempts for the reigning champions. That aspect of the game helped the Lady Bulldogs turn back their opponents.
Despite the setback, Villanueva was full of praise for his team.
“We are small team but we have heart and we never giving up until the last seconds of the game. That’s why (the players) still dug deep and had a comeback of some sorts but we fell short so within this situation,” he beamed.
“We never give up.”
The sophomore head coach maintained his optimism after the loss while promising that the Lady Archers will learn from their mistakes. Rebounding was one such factor which he urged La Salle to improve on.
“It takes two games, two wins to win a championship. They just have one win. We still have two chances. They still have to beat us to win the championship,” concluded Villanueva.
“It’s not yet over. We still have two more games to win.”
Even with the hole they are in, the Lady Archers will continue to fight as they look to slay the NU beast — one step at a time.
