On Saturday, the National University Lady Bulldogs will gun for their 72nd straight victory in the UAAP. If they pick this up, they will be just one win away from tying the league-record for the longest winning streak in league history set by the Adamson Lady Falcons in Softball.
But in order to get to 72, Patrick Aquino and the Lady Bulldogs face a familiar foe. Their next opponents are the De La Salle University Lady Archers – the last team to defeat the Lady Bulldogs.
And that game took place 1840 days ago.
Back in October 5, 2013, the Lady Bulldogs and the Lady Archers were figuring in a winner-take-all Game 3 for the UAAP Season 76 Women’s Basketball Championship.
“They are most probably the talented team. They won’t be number one for nothing. They dominated the preseason so we were really facing a strong team,” said La Salle head coach Tyrone Bautista.
The Lady Bulldogs back then were headed by Risa Paig, together with a young Afril Bernardino. But La Salle had a deeper lineup with the likes of Ara Abaca and Trisha Piatos.
NU had to claw back from 17 down in the contest, slicing the lead down to just four points with 1:25 left in the game. The Lady Bulldogs then could not convert late, while free throws from Ara Abaca and then-rookie Camille Claro sealed the 69-61 win and the championship – the last for any other team outside of the Lady Bulldogs for the last five years.
The Lady Archers were led by Mythical Five member Abaca, who had 16 points, while eventual-Finals Most Valuable Player Trisha Piatos added 15 markers. Every Lady Archer in the game scored.
“I really feel great. We’ve worked hard for this. It took a long time coming. There were many ups and downs along the way. I will take this anytime,” added Bautista.
Five years later, the Lady Bulldogs have been untouchable. Moreover, they are at the verge of history.
Still, Patrick Aquino and the Lady Bulldogs remain wary of La Salle.
“It’s gonna be a good match-up. La Salle is La Salle. We’ll have to work harder definitely to (know) who we are talaga. Still the potential of being the best is not yet there.”
And all it takes is a good look at what happened five years ago to see that the Lady Bulldogs are still mortal.
