The DLSU Lady Archers suffered their second straight loss to the defending champions FEU Lady Tamaraws after dropping a tight 67-62 decision at the Smart Araneta Coliseum last August 14. The Lady Archers slid down to a 5-3 win-loss card for the season and failed to move up from their third place standing in the UAAP Season 76 eliminations. The team is left with six more games left to play in the eliminations to try and topple league-leading FEU and NU.
In another loss against the team that snatched the championship from La Salle last season, the Lady Archers found themselves in a gloomy situation with the second half swinging away from their favor. This second round festivity of FEU and DLSU was closer in terms of the final margin though. DLSU even found themselves tied with FEU and even ahead at some late stages of the game as the difference of this game and their last encounter was that they were able to out rebound FEU, 49-48. However, head coach Tyrone Bautista’s squad once again found difficulty in running their fast break game as they failed to score a single point in transition.
The game that featured the top two teams last season who faced off in the finals also showcased a star match-up as FEU’s Camille Sambile and DLSU’s Ara Abaca went head-to-head in the paint as both registered double-double performances. The two gifted athletes battled it out for most of the game and they gave it their all as both played more than 30 minutes apiece. Abaca ended up with monstrous 20 point and 10 rebound double-double, but she was overshadowed by her counterpart as Samblie led FEU with a dominant performance of 27 points and 15 rebounds.
The game was decided on balanced scoring however as Samblie’s production was supported by her teammates, led by Jack Tanaman who had 15 points. Other than Abaca, no other DLSU player scored in double figures as they were hounded by the suffocating defense of their adversaries all game long.
With La Salle leading the scoreboards, 32-29, at the halftime whistle, the sharpshooting FEU Lady Tamaraws hustled in the third period to outscore the Taft-based cagebelles by six to take a three point lead entering the final quarter. FEU eventually drove ahead of the equally aggressive Green-and-White Squad, holding on to a five-point lead until the game clock expired. The team again failed to hit their stride from beyond the arc as they converted only 15.8 percent of their attempts while their counterparts took advantage with a 26.7 percent shooting clip from three-point range.
Next up for the Lady Archers are the UE Amazons whom they will face on August 21, Wednesday, at 9 am in the Mall of Asia Arena.
The scores:
FEU 67: Sambile-27, Tanaman-15, Soriano-9, Siat-5, Gesalan-4, Albano-4, Valenzona-3, Gabriel-0, Chan-0
DLSU 62: Abaca- 20, Piatos-7, Garcia-7, Corcuera-7, Santos-7, A. Ong-6, M. Ong-4, Ramos-4, Scott-0, Ramos-0
Quarter scores: 16-20, 13-12, 19-13, 19-17
