Unlike their opening day win over the Adamson Lady Falcons, the De La Salle University Lady Archers needed to gut out their second win, outlasting the University of the East Lady Warriors, 64-61, Wednesday afternoon at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
Last September 9, the Lady Archers blasted the Lady Falcons, 72-57. But they had to work this time around.
“Again, this win is a good win for us coming from our first game that we won by a big margin. Now, we had to grind out the game,” said Lady Archers head coach Cholo Villanueva, who is just a win away from matching La Salle’s win total last season. “It’s a good thing that we were composed down the stretch and we were able to execute. It’s a good sign for us.”
A balanced second quarter attack gave the Lady Archers a lead that went to as high as 12 points, 36-24. But a huge third canto by Princess Ganade and Ann Requiron sliced the lead down to just five entering the final frame.
It was defense versus defense in the final stanza, as both teams struggled to get buckets. And just like in their loss to the Ateneo Lady Eagles last Wednesday, the Lady Warriors did not go down easily.
A booming triple by Joyce Francisco cut the lead down to just two with 3:04 left. Later on, a split on the stripe by Anne Pedregosa sliced the deficit to just a solitary point.
Though La Salle committed numerous errors late, the composure of Camille Claro and the length of rookie Angel Quingco proved to be the difference.
Late free throws by Lauryn Del Ocampo extended La Salle’s lead to three with four ticks remaining. With no timeouts left, UE had to run the floor to give themselves a shot. Ganade’s long bomb missed to close out the game.
Claro, who missed last season due to an ACL tear, had 12 points for La Salle.
“It’s a very big factor that she’s back. She’s the floor general, she’s my extension on the court,” shared Villanueva on Claro. “She leads both on offense and on defense. And she’s very composed especially down the stretch.”
Senior Marie Arciga tallied 12 points and eight rebounds, while Agusan-native Angel Quingco tallied a double-double with 10 points and 17 rebounds to go along with two blocks.
“Actually, the main problem even before is getting big guys. We went on a different direction this time as we went for bigger and longer players. Hopefully, in the coming years, mag-iiba na yung face ng Lady Archers – na we are a big team,” expressed the La Salle lifer.
UE dropped to 0-3, matching their total losses last season.
Ganade tallied 14 points, seven rebounds, three steals, two assists, and a block to pace UE. Pedregosa added 12 points, nine rebounds, and seven assists.
La Salle will next face the National University Lady Bulldogs on Monday, September 24, at 3:00pm. UE, on the other hand, looksto snap out of their funk on the same day when they take on the University of the Philippines Lady Maroons. Both games will take place at the Filoil Flying V Centre.
The Scores:
DLSU (64) — Claro 12, Arciga 12, Quingco 10, Torres 7, Del Ocampo 5, Castillo 5, Jimenez 4, Revillosa 4, Nunez 3, Paraiso 2, Binaohan 0, Espinas 0.
UE (61) — Ganade 14, Pedregosa A. 12, Cortizano 10, Requiron 10, Francisco 7, Pedregosa P. 5, Nama 3, Strachan 0, Ordas 0, Borromeo 0.
Quarterscores: 17-21, 36-28, 50-45, 64-61
