After two games, the Adamson University Lady Falcons have barged into the UAAP Season 80 Women’s Basketball Tournament win column with an 88-84 squeaker against the De La Salle University Lady Archers.
“Medyo hinahanap talaga namin ang panalo,” shared Adamson coach John Kallos. “Alam naman namin galing kami sa Final Four at maganda naman mga laban namin kaso lagi lang kaming short. This time nakuha na namin yung first win. Hopefully ito na yung magtuloy-tuloy.”
Nathalia Prado shot 43 percent from the field to lead the Lady Falcons with 26 points and 18 rebounds, today at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
“Actually si (Prado) talaga pinaka fighter sa team. Kahit natatalo kami, she always keeps on pushing her teammates to work hard. Even the coaches nakikita talaga namin yung hard work niya,” commented Kallos.
Jamie Alcoy, Ladyrose Rosario and April Cabug also chipped in 13, 13 and 11 points respectively for Adamson.
Both schools entered this contest with similar 0-2 records, and saw this game as the possible breakthrough to the season.
La Salle accrued a 72-77 edge early in the fourth quarter courtesy of Marga Dagdagan’s basket, but a 9-0 run capped off by Prado set Adamson on their way to victory at 81-77 with 4:16 left in the period.
Khate Castillo retaliated for the Taft school with a trey to bring the Lady Archers within 81-83 with a minute remaining in regulation, but she missed the go-ahead missile, allowing Kristeena Camacho to give Adamson an 85-81 edge in the next play.
Rosario then converted two free throws to seal the victory at 87-81 with only 20 seconds on the clock. Charmaine Torres pulled another three back for La Salle to make it 84-87, but it was a case of too little too late.
Adamson ultimately prevailed 88-84, nabbing win number one and condemning La Salle to their third straight loss this season.
The Lady Falcons manned the boards better than the Lady Archers with 46 rebounds against 30. Khate Castillo and Marga Dagdagan contributed 19 and 10 points respectively for the La Salle cause.
Up next for Adamson (1-2) is defending champions National University on September 24, 10:00 AM while La Salle (0-3) shall face University of the Philippines on September 23, 8:00 AM. Both games will be played at the SM MOA Arena.
The Scores:
AdU (88) – Prado 26, Alcoy 13, Rosario 13, Cabug 11, Araja 7, Camacho 6, Lacson 2, Villanueva 2, Razalo 2, Cacho 2, Tacitac 2, Gaite 2, Aciro.
DLSU (84) – Castillo 19, Dagdagan 10, Torres 9, Vergara 8, Arciga 8, Del Campo 8, Nunez 7, Jimenez 7, Paraiso 6, Javier 2, Figueroa.
Quarterscores: 21-26, 44-42, 66-64, 88-84.
