The De La Salle Lady Archers succumbed to the National University Lady Bulldogs for the second time in UAAP Season 78 women’s basketball action last Sunday, although La Salle head coach Cholo Villanueva isn’t losing confidence in his second-seeded team.
After being dealt an 81-74 defeat at the hands of the defending women’s basketball champions, Villanueva said the Lady Archers should learn from the game to get even better, heading into the semi-finals.
“We will learn from our mistakes and build on whatever positives to gain consistency. We will review what details we can improve on,” Villanueva said.
Still, there are a few fine points the Lady Archers can take away from the game, like leading for a brief stretch in the first quarter, 17-14. Back-up forward Snow Penaranda played a solid game with 13 points and 8 rebounds on 5-for-8 shooting, while forward Alyanna Ong showed a different facet of her games as she drained three triples en route to 11 points.
Villanueva gave credit to NU for showcasing even a more dangerous game plan, and the mentor wants to avoid the little mistakes the next time out.
“They are still the defending champions until you get the championship. They are a really good team. We need to review film, review the game to make adjustments and play better,” he said. “You don’t win championships without a good bench. We were able to contain their starters but their bench played well. Those are the things we need to see.”
In the long run, Villanueva will have a good core to carry along in the next few seasons, and he has faith that his team will only get even better.
“I think everybody is beatable. We just need to make the right decisions and right game plan to figure it out,” he said.
“I am very confident we can improve on things and eventually crack the code on how to win against NU (in the future). (But) we are still a long way from there. We still have to finish our business in the Final Four, whatever team we are going to play.”
