De La Salle University avenged its first-round loss to Far Eastern University, escaping with an epic second overtime win, 73-70, to pump life to its UAAP Season 86 Women’s Basketball Tournament flickering Final Four hopes at the SM Mall of Asia Arena, Saturday.
The Lady Archers improved to 4-6, just 2.5 games behind fourth-running Ateneo de Manila University, with four games left.
“We needed to stay in the game, be smart, really want to win. Yung possession for possession game we need to be very good executing offensively while defensively, wanting the ball more than FEU and it showed during the last stops of the game,” said Lady Archers head coach Cholo Villanueva.
Josee Kaputu’s layup for FEU proved to be the final deadlock of the game in the second extra period.
Bea Dalisay then drained a three-pointer in the ensuing play to give La Salle the lead for good with 3:16 left, 69-66.
Although Kaputu and Shane Salvani provided buckets for the Lady Tamaraws, Luisa Dela Paz and Lee Sario produced the counters for the Lady Archers.
With 21.7 seconds remaining, Sario was fouled with her team ahead 72-70, splitting her free throws to leave it a one-possession game.
However, Salvani threw a bad pass inside that got intercepted by the Lady Archers, running away from FEU players to waste away the time as time expired.
The Lady Tamaraws pulled multiple comebacks in the fourth quarter and overtime, clawing back from a 54-58 deficit with 1:20 left (4th) and a 61-64 hole with 19.6 seconds remaining (first OT).
“It boils down to pangalawang overtime na eh. So pinaghirapan na namin ito, ayaw na namin siya mawala sa kamay namin,” said Dalisay, who had 11 points, three rebounds, and three assists,
Sario added 11 points and 13 rebounds, while Bettina Binaohan and Bernice Paraiso got 10 points apiece.
Tricia Mendoza also came up huge with nine points, 12 rebounds, and five steals, while Dela Paz also had nine.
Meanwhile, the Lady Tamaraws hit a huge roadblock in their bid for a post-season spot as they dropped to 3-7, tied with Adamson University for sixth to seventh.
The latter holds the tiebreaker via ‘win over the other’.
FEU opened its campaign with a huge 75-68 win over La Salle, the previous season’s finalist.
Congolese big Kaputu tallied a double-double of 20 points and 22 rebounds while also getting 16 points from MJ Manguiat.
Salvani scored 13, grabbed 16 rebounds, and dished out seven assists against nine turnovers. She also recorded two steals and two blocks.
Both teams will be back Wednesday at the same Pasay venue. La Salle will face National University at 11:00 AM. Meanwhile, FEU will meet University of the Philippines at 1:00 PM.
The Scores:
DLSU 73 – Dalisay 12, Sario 11, Binaohan 10, Paraiso 10, Dela Paz 9, Mendoza 9, Sunga 6, Barcierto 4, Delos Reyes 2, San Juan 0.
FEU 70 – Kaputu 20, Manguiat 16, Salvani 13, Delos Reyes 7, Antonio 5, Aquino 4, Ong 3, Dela Torre 2, Nagma 0, Caringal 0.
Quarterscores: 15-20, 30-35, 44-46, 58-58, 64-64, 73-70
