The De La Salle University Lady Archers escaped the University of the East Lady Warriors late rally, 74-72, snapping the latter’s four-game winning streak, Wednesday afternoon, at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
Khate Castillo led the Lady Archers with 21 points and 9 rebounds. Castllo was followed by Camille Claro with scored 17 markers and Snow Penaranda who produced 11 points and 10 rebounds.
“We’re just lucky we won this game,” admitted Lady Archers mentor Cholo Villanueva.
La Salle started the game hotter than UE as the former enjoyed a 44-33 cushion over the latter at halftime.
UE, though, rallied in the third quarter. A 12-0 run capped off by Nicole Mendina brought the Lady Warriors within a point of the Lady Archers at 51-52. Bennette Revillosa then made a three point play to give La Salle a 55-53 lead atop UE at the end of the third quarter.
“UE is always like that. There’s no quit in that team. We knew that they were going to come back. We just had to weather the storm down the stretch,” stated Villanueva.
The Lady Archers built a 65-56 deficit from a Martha Dagdagan trey early in the fourth quarter. That safety net, though, went for naught as UE retaliated once again and its 11-0 finished off by Mendina gave the Lady Warriors a 65-67 pull.
It then became a seesaw game between La Salle and UE. Unfortunately for UE, Eunique Chan was called for a technical foul for unsportsmanlike behavior with 12 seconds left. Castillo converted the charity for a 74-72 lead as the Lady Archers held on for the win.
La Salle’s three point shooting won them the game against UE. The Lady Archers shot 37.93 percent from beyond the arc while UE only had 21.43 percent.
Villanueva concluded, “All the statistics say that UE should have won the game, but the good thing about this game is we held our composure down the stretch. We were able to make stops when we needed them and execute properly and get the shots that we wanted especially in the last 1:30.”
Up next for La Salle (5-1) will be Ateneo de Manila University at 10:00AM while UE (4-2) shall also play against Adamson University on at 8:00AM. Both games will be held on October 2 at the Mall of Asia Arena.
The Scores:
DLSU (74) – Castillo 21, Claro 17, Penaranda 11, Revillosa 9, Vergara 6, Dagdagan 5, Arciga 3, Nunez 2, Roxas 0, Vela 0, Gonzales 0, Torres 0.
UE (72) – Requiron 21, Chan 18, Sto. Domingo 15, Mendina 10, Gayacao 4, Tacula 4, Ramos 0, Francisco 0, Cortizano.
Quarterscores: 25-15, 44-33, 55-53, 74-72.
