The De La Salle University Lady Archers put on a show as they defeated the Far Eastern University Lady Tamaraws 76-52 today at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay to kickstart their UAAP Season 79 Women’s Basketball Tournament on a high.
Chay Vergara led the Lady Archers with 19 points while Snow Peñarada followed her example with 15 markers of her own. In contrast, it was a poor shooting day for the Lady Tamaraws as their top scorer, Valerie Mamaril, only shot 9 baskets after forty minutes of play.
“Even though we played not up to par with what I want, we still came out with a win. Good thing (the players) adjusted how they played from the first half to the second half,” Lady Archers mentor Cholo Villanueva said after the game.
It was a tight game all the way up to the second quarter and it finished 31-28 at halftime in favor of La Salle. The third quarter, though, was when the game’s complexion changed. Halfway through the period, the Lady Archers went on monster run and created a fifteen point difference between themselves and the Lady Tamaraws.
La Salle carried their momentum into the fourth quarter as FEU were simply outplayed in the second half. A Vergara trey gave La Salle a seventeen point advantage in the middle of the period. Jady Roxas then gave the Lady Archers its biggest lead of the ballgame at twenty-four points with a shot in the shaded lane as La Salle eventually beat FEU with a score of 76-52.
One particular statistic noted by Villanueva was that La Salle had 17 assists in the game. Villanueva surmised, “We had 17assists for the whole game and twenty-one turnovers. It means we only had four turnovers in the second half.
“If you’re not moving the ball, most likely you will have more turnovers.”
The Lady Tamaraws did not have any student-athlete score in double-figures but 11 of the 13 players plugged in were able to score. FEU was led by Valerie Mamaril’s nine markers in just 11 minutes of game time.
The Lady Archers shot an outstanding 50 percent from the field compared to a dismal 26 percent for FEU. Moreover, they were able to rotate the ball better, assisting on 17 of its 29 field goals.
The Lady Archers’ (1-0) next game will be against the University of the Philippines Lady Maroons (0-1) on September 10, 10:00AM while the Lady Tamaraws (0-1) play on September 11, 8:00AM versus the Adamson Lady Falcons (1-0). Both games will be played at the Araneta Coliseum.
The Scores:
DLSU (76) – Vergara 19, Peñaranda 15, Claro 13, Dagdagan 6, Castillo 5, Roxas 5, Nuñez 4, Revillosa 4, Gonzales 3, Vela 2, Arciga 0, Figueroa 0 Torres 0, Ali Mohamed El Hadad 0.
FEU (52) – Mamaril 9, Ventura 8, Arellado 8, Okunola 6, Payadon 5, Ouano 3, Capua 3, De Guzman 3, Vidal 3, Balleser 2, Gerner 2, Quiapo 0, Jumuad 0.
Quarterscores: 20-11, 31-28, 54-41, 76-52.
