Last season’s runner-up De La Salle University continued its late push for a UAAP Season 86 Women’s Basketball Final Four slot, stunning University of the Philippines, 75-71, on Saturday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The Lady Archers, who started their campaign at 1-6, have now won four of their last six to raise their slate to 5-7 – 2.5 games behind fourth-running Ateneo Blue Eagles for the last semifinals slot.
An Ateneo win over Far Eastern U on Sunday, however, will eliminate La Salle from contention.
National U, UP, and UST have already booked their place in the next round but the loss dropped the Fighting Maroons to 9-3 – just half-a-game ahead of the Growling Tigresses as the two teams are still vying for a twice-to-beat advantage.
“For us, it’s just staying alive and fighting for survival in this year’s UAAP,” said Lady Archers coach Cholo Villanueva.
“That’s the mentality that we had coming into the game. It showed especially down the stretch when UP was making a run, but we hit timely baskets and we made the winning-impact plays down the stretch. That’s why we were able to win the game.”
It was sweet revenge for the Lady Archers as they previously lost to the Fighting Maroons 65-61 in the first round last October 18.
UP’s Nigerian center Favour Onoh leveled the game at 66-all with five minutes left.
Then Bea Dalisay, Bettina Binaohan, and Chuchi Paraiso rallied La Salle, giving their side a 73-66 cushion with 1:59 to go in the contest.
The Lady Archers then felt the pressure from the Fighting Maroons.
Kaye Pesquera sunk a three to bring the deficit down to four points, before UP forced La Salle to commit an eight-second violation.
That allowed Onoh to trim it further to 71-73 with 1:23 left in the contest.
However, Onoh missed her next basket, and Paraiso iced the game with a jumper to give La Salle a four-point edge with 40 seconds remaining.
Pesquera then committed a turnover and UP failed to convert soon after as La Salle came off with a much-needed win.
“Honestly, I had very low efficient scoring in the past games,” said Lee Sario, who led the Lady Archers with 19 points, 12 rebounds, and two assists.
“I went back to the gym and did my extras. It was still not my A-game today. I did a lot of lapses in defense but, again, I’m still grateful that we won the game and my co-seniors stepped up also.”
After Sario, Binaohan contributed 15 points, nine assists, six rebounds, and two steals for La Salle. Paraiso chipped in 12 points, eight rebounds, and two assists and Dalisay scored 10 points and also had five rebounds and four assists.
“We just wanted to survive. it’s wanting to improve and wanting to survive. We know that UP is one of the top teams ngayon sa UAAP so we were up for the challenge especially the veteran guys — si Lee, si Bettina, si Chuchi, and Bea showed up today,” added Villanueva.
On the other hand, the Fighting Maroons fell to 9-3 in second place.
Onoh led UP with 23 points, 24 rebounds, and five blocks while Acrissa Maw got 11 points and eight rebounds.
Louna Ozar, the leading Rookie of the Year candidate after the first round, was limited to just seven points behind 2-of-8 shooting.
UP will look to bounce back on Wednesday against bottom team University of the East at 1:00 PM.
Three female officials officiated the game, Editha S. Boticario, Irish Sano-an, and Marie Olande, while Faye Veras served as the alternate referee.
The Scores:
DLSU 75 – Sario 19, Binaohan 15, Paraiso 12, Dalisay 10, San Juan 8, Dela Paz 7, Mendoza 4, Sunga 0, Delos Reyes 0.
UP 71 – Onoh 23, Maw 11, Vingno 9, Pesquera 8, Ozar 7, Sanchez 6, Domingo 3, Lozada 3, Bariquit 1, Tapawan 0, Godez 0, Jimenez 0.
Quarterscores: 16-24, 40-37, 62-59, 75-71
