Last year’s runners-up the National University Lady Bulldogs had some of the sweet taste of revenge after routing defending champions De La Salle University Lady Archers, 77-55, avenging last season’s defeat at the finals.
The Lady Bulldogs came into the game strong, building a 7-0 lead to start the game. Though the Lady Archers would soon find some help in Inna Concuera to help La Salle sink their first baskets. The defending champions however found no answer for the inside duo of Shelley Gupilan and Kristine Abriam, who took to forcing turnovers and disrupting plays for La Salle.
Afril Bernardino and Gemma Miranda would continue to keep the baskets raining for NU in the second quarter, building a commanding 41-25 cushion for the Lady Bulldogs by halftime. Camille Claro would keep the fire alive for La Salle in the second half, helping the Lady Archers trim the lead to twelve points midway in the third quarter. However, with La Salle’s go-to scorers unable to find the easy basket, NU would only continue widen the gap, with the lead balooning to 20 points by the early fourth quarter.
Gemma Miranda led NU with 20 points and 14 rebounds. Afril Bernardino had 14, while Andrea Tongco and Trixie Antiquiera had 11 apiece. Camille Claro was the only Lady Archer to score in double-digits with 11.
The win marks the NU’s seventh consecutive win, who now enter the second round with a commanding 7-0 slate. The defending champions La Salle now fall to 6-1 at solo second after suffering their first loss.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | FT | |
| NU | 23 | 14 | 18 | 22 | 77 |
| DLSU | 14 | 11 | 16 | 14 | 55 |
