When De La Salle University is having fun, energy rises and they are hard to stop.
Riding on the total team effort of the team’s key cogs, the Lady Archers used a spectacular fourth quarter run to pull away from University of Santo Tomas and win 67-56 Sunday in the UAAP Season 78 women’s basketball tournament at the Blue Eagle Gym.
The Lady Archers outscored the Tigresses 23-13 in the payoff period to create separation and seal their sixth straight win. La Salle moved to solo second at 6-1 while UST dropped to 4-3.
Four players finished in double digits for the Taft side led by Ara Abaca who had 14 points, 12 rebounds, and 5 assists.
Ana Castillo added 13 points while Camille Claro had 12 points and 6 assists.
La Salle took an early double-digit spread in the first quarter as the team went on a 1-2-2 full court trap to generate turnovers.
Castillo and Marga Dagdagan each hit a three while Claro assisted the last two baskets of the quarter as La Salle took a 20-10 lead.
But the Tigresses roared back little by little behind the joined efforts of Maica Cortes, Bettina Penaflor, and Marielle Isanan who would all attack the paint for inside points.
UST was able to trim the deficit to only 43-44 heading into the final quarter where a nip-and-tuck battle would ensue.
After Cortes scored to make it only a 53-48 lead for the Lady Archers, La Salle decided to shift to a higher gear to finish off the Tigresses.
Castillo and Claro joined hands in the end as they kept running in transition for uncontested layups.
La Salle had a commanding 19-2 disparity in fastbreak points and also leaned on their bench, which outscored the UST reserves 27-12.
UST had a 67-46 edge in rebounding including 26-12 in offensive boards which led to 15 more second-chance points which kept them in the game before falling out in the end.
The Scores:
DLSU (67) – Abaca 14, Castillo 13, Claro 12, Ong 10, Revillosa 6, Vela 4, Dagdagan 3, Penaranda 3, Vergara 2, Roxas 0, Arciga 0, Oyao 0.
UST (56) – Cortes 13, Penaflor 12, Isanan 11, Angeles 10, Anies 5, Larosa 4, Brillante 1, Magdaluyo 0, Felisarta 0, Gandalla 0, Jerez 0, Capilit 0.
Quarters: 20-10, 29-25, 44-43, 67-56.
