The De La Salle Lady Archers look to slay a beast
While the NU Lady Bulldogs dominated the past three seasons of the UAAP women’s basketball tournament, the De La Salle University Lady Archers always finished just behind them in the elimination round. However, the Lady Archers were knocked out earlier than projected as they failed to make the finals in Season 77 and 78 despite holding a twice-to-beat advantage.
Season 79, fortunately for them, yielded a different outcome.
The emergence of Khate Castillo and the resurgence of Bennette Revillosa aided the DLSU Lady Archers in eliminating the UE Lady Warriors last Wednesday via a 72-50 victory at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Castillo led all scorers with 23 points, 12.5 points above her norm, on the back of 8-for-18 field goal shooting. She also registered six rebounds, an assist and a steal. Meanwhile, Revillosa made her presence felt in the game by pouring in 10 points alongside eight rebounds.
“Sabi nga ni coach hindi puwedeng mawawala kami kaagad. Dapat lahat ng gawin namin, normal lang. Galaw lang kami, huwag ‘yung matataranta,” shared Castillo.
The point guard observed that the team initially struggled to cope with the Lady Warriors, who actually took the lead at the end of the first quarter. The barren spell did not last long as her fiery shooting form propelled the team back.
The most notable thing in the second period was how the Lady Archers shut UE down. La Salle’s defense held the Lady Warriors to just two points and in the process gave themselves a 12-point halftime lead. As one of the defensive pillars of the team, Revillosa used her fine display as a boost in performing well on the other end of the court.
“Actually in the past games hindi kasi maganda yung laro ko. Pinick up ko lang from defense. Start with good defense. Nung na-rotate naman yung bola nahahanap nila ako sa ilalim,” the third-year Lady Archer said.
It’s a good time for Revillosa, who is averaging 5.8 points and 3.8 rebounds, to break out from a slump as a defeat would have reminded them even more of the bitter times they’ve had recently in the semis. The memories of losing in the semifinals remain fresh in some of the players so coming into the match against UE, it became important for them to get the job done as soon as possible.
“Bago mag-start yung game [sinabi sa amin] na mag-focus lang. Ibigay namin lahat ng magagawa at maitutulong namin kasi gusto ni coach na one game lang. Wala ng pangalawang game kasi natalo kami kahit twice-to-beat,” Castillo added.
Focus is indeed key as Revillosa puts importance in staying committed to the cause in approaching their finals duel against the still undefeated Lady Bulldogs.
Unlike in the previous seasons when a sweeping team gains a thrice-to-beat advantage, this season’s finals series is just a best-of-three series. Aware of the situation, Revillosa hopes the UE win will ignite a spark that may rally them to where they want to be.
“Magiging focused kami kasi gusto namin makuha yung first game para nandoon na yung momentum namin. Siyempre ayaw rin namin sila bigyan ng confidence sa susunod na mga games.
“Ngayon may momentum na kami so gusto namin mag tuluy-tuloy,” she elaborated.
It will be a tall task for the Lady Archers as they face one of the most dominant teams in the UAAP right now. But they are hoping to do the improbable and bring the title back to Taft Avenue.
