De La Salle University scored a pivotal 71-61 victory over Adamson University to stay in the thick of things in the UAAP Season 86 Women’s Basketball Tournament on Wednesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Notching their first winning streak of the season, the Lady Archers improved their record to 3-5. They are tied with Far Eastern University in the fifth to sixth spots and just two games behind third- to fourth-running University of Santo Tomas and Ateneo de Manila University.
Trisha Mendoza took charge for the Lady Archers — producing 17 points, 13 rebounds, three assists, two steals, and two blocks. She was also a plus-23 on the floor for La Salle.
“Trisha just did it on both ends,” said Lady Archers head coach Cholo Villanueva about third-year big Mendoza. “She started from the defensive end, guarding the top player from the other team. But even though it was still her average, si (Victoria) Adeshina, she scored 11 points but it was a hard 11 points for her.
“It’s always our identity to start at the defensive end. That’s why Trisha started being a two-way player, defending their best player. And then on the other end, making the right decisions offensively. That’s why she was able to get the rhythm in the game,” the La Salle lifer continued.
Down by as much as 12 points in the first half, the Lady Archers turned things around in the third quarter.
Betts Binaohan, Mendoza, and Lee Sario linked up to give La Salle its first taste of the lead at 33-32 early in the period.
From that point, La Salle did not allow Adamson to retake the lead. Bea Dalisay, Binaohan, Luisa San Juan, Sario, Mendoza, and Bernice Paraiso iced the game for the Lady Archers with 1:11 remaining in the game by giving their team its biggest lead at 66-55.
La Salle’s bad start in the first half and recovery after the halftime break was epitomized by the team’s turnovers. The Lady Archers made 12 turnovers in the first two quarters but only made one in the final two periods.
The Lady Archers’ bench mob also proved key as it contributed 46 points while the Lady Falcons only mustered 21 in the same category.
“We had a bad start but come the second half, we were able to control our turnovers. We made good decisions, especially in the second half,” said Villanueva. “It was all the girls. They were making those decisions on the offense we were doing.”
The Lady Archers also prevailed over the Lady Falcons in their first-round clash last October 11, 63-55.
La Salle will take on University of Santo Tomas this Sunday at 9 a.m. at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Meanwhile, Adeshina led the Lady Falcons with 11 points, 10 rebounds, and one block. Cheska Apag followed suit with 10 points, seven assists, three rebounds, and three steals while Kim Limbago got seven points and seven rebounds.
Adamson will next play University of the Philippines this Saturday at 2 p.m. in its home gym.
The Scores:
DLSU 71 – Mendoza 17, San Juan 11, Sario 10, Paraiso 10, Dalisay 8, Binaohan 7, Delos Reyes 3, Bojang 2, Bacierto 2, Dela Paz 1, Sunga 0.
AdU 61 – Adeshina 11, Apag 10, Etang 8, Dampios 8, Limbago 7, Bajo 5, Padilla 4, Meniano 4, Alaba 2, Dumelod 2, Agojo 2, Tano 2.
Quarterscores: 9-17, 26-32, 51-47, 71-61.
