De La Salle University outlasted archrivals Ateneo de Manila University 56-55 to seal a playoff spot in the UAAP Season 85 Women’s Basketball Tournament, Sunday at the UST Quadricentennial Pavilion.
The Lady Archers fell to a 51-55 hole after five unanswered points from Blue Eagles senior Jhazmin Joson with 39.1 ticks left in the game.
Lee Sario gave life to La Salle, draining a booming triple to cut the lead down to one. On the other end, the Lady Archers were able to force the Blue Eagles to a 24-second violation.
With 11.9 seconds left, Charmaine Torres was able to find Fina Niantcho Tchuido for the go-ahead bucket.
Ateneo had the last possession but Joson was tightly marked and La Salle managed to pull off the stop needed to escape with the win.
“It was a character win for us,” said La Salle coach Cholo Villanueva after the win that hiked their record to 8-2, tying UST at second. “It was a game of runs. We were lucky that we had that last run to win the game. It was my players’ decision-making on that last play that gave us the win.”
Sario led La Salle with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Charmaine Torres had 11 points, eight rebounds, and two assists while Joehanna Arciga produced 11 points, nine rebounds, and two steals. Niantcho Tchuido had eight rebounds along with six points as well for the Lady Archers.
La Salle’s bench players contributed heavily to this win with 33 points against Ateneo’s 18. The Lady Archers also converted 15-of-25 from the charity line while the Blue Eagles only made 8-of-20.
“We’re just looking at the next 40 minutes and hopefully we’ll do better in our next game,” added Villanueva.
Ateneo suffered its second straight loss to fall to 5-5 — just a full game ahead of UP.
Kacey dela Rosa led Ateneo with 13 points and 18 rebounds followed by Sarah Makanjuola’s 12 points.
Joson contributed 11 points, nine rebounds, five assists, and four steals to the Blue Eagles’ cause. Dyna Nieves had eight points and nine rebounds as well for Ateneo.
Both schools will return to action next Sunday at the same venue. La Salle takes on Adamson University at 9:00 AM while Ateneo will go up against University of Santo Tomas at 3:00 PM.
The Scores:
La Salle (56) – Sario 16, Torres 11, Arciga 11, De La Paz 8, Niantcho Tchuido 6, Jimenez 2, Binaohan 1, Camba 1, Ahmed 0, Espinas 0.
Ateneo (55) – Dela Rosa 13, Makanjuola 12, Joson 11, Nieves 8, Cruza 3, Calago 3, Miranda 3, Villacruz 2, Eufemiano 0.
Quarterscores: 18-17, 36-31, 46-42, 56-55
