UAAP: Lady Archers overcome FEU to improve to 2-1

The DLSU Lady Archers are back to their winning ways after defeating last year’s finalists, the FEU Lady Tamaraws, last Thursday at the Blue Eagle Gym, 54-45. La Salle overwhelmed the Lady Tamaraws on the defensive end, forcing a total of 33 turnovers while piling up 27 points off those errors.

Ana Castillo had a stellar game for the Lady Archers as she finished with 19 points, including four straight three-pointers in the third quarter to put the game out of FEU’s reach. Camille Claro also had a great game with eight points and five rebounds coming off the bench.

Claire Castro carried FEU with her 14-point and nine-rebound performance, while Precious Arrelado added six points and 10 rebounds in a losing effort.

Defense generating offense

The Lady Archers were aggressive on both ends of the court early on, converting 15 of their 18 total points in the first quarter from FEU’s 11 turnovers. The Taft-based squad racked up points early on as all of their starters scored within the first five minutes of play. Jamie Roxas and Castillo led all scorers in the first quarter with five apiece.

The Lady Tamaraws, on the other hand, had a hard time controlling the ball and keeping possession, something that hindered them from scoring for most of the game. FEU only had three made field goals by the end of the period as the opening quarter concluded with a score of 18-8, in favor of DLSU.

FEU had a better scoring output in the second quarter despite missing open shots in the first few minutes. Krishia Baldonado sparked the run for the Lady Tamaraws with five points, orchestrating an 11-4 run midway through the quarter as the Lady Archers went through their own minor slump.

Claro had five points in the quarter, including a three-point basket that kept the lead with DLSU. FEU was able to cut the lead to single digits courtesy of a layup by Castro in the final two minutes of the second quarter. The score was 28-21 at halftime with La Salle still in the lead.

Lights out shooting

DLSU started to pull away in the third quarter behind the hot shooting of Castillo, who had 12 third-quarter points while missing only two shots from behind the three-point line. FEU also began breaking the full court press of La Salle, giving themselves wide open baskets they were unable to capitalize on during the first half.

Valerie Mamaril carried the Lady Tamaraws in the third quarter, scoring six of her seven total points in the third period. However, the gap continued to widen courtesy of baskets from Ara Abaca and Paulina Vela. The lead of the Lady Archers ballooned as they continued to lead FEU heading into the final quarter, 54-45.

The Lady Tamaraws sparked another run to come within striking distance of DLSU. FEU scored the first three baskets in the fourth quarter courtesy of Castro and Mamaril. It took almost six minutes for the Lady Archers to register their first bucket in the fourth quarter, courtesy of a layup from Snow Penaranda.

FEU would start another run, scoring eight straight points with under two minutes left in the contest. However, they would run out of time in erasing La Salle’s lead with the help of free throws by Claro with only a few seconds remaining in the game.

The Lady Archers will now try to win their third straight game, this time against the UP Lady Maroons on September 20, 8 am, in the Blue Eagle Gym.

The Scores:

DLSU (54)- Castillo 19, Claro 8, Penaranda 7, Roxas 6, Abaca 4, Dagdagan 3, Vergara 2, Revillosa 2, Vela 2, Ong 1, Gonzales 0.

FEU (45)- Castro 14, Ballecer 8, Mamaril 7, Arrelado 6, Baldonado 5, Ventura 2, Okunlola 2, Hortaleza 1, Capua 0, Adriano 0, Abat 0, Quiapo 0.

Quarter Scores: 18-8, 28-21, 45-29, 54-45