Trouncing their rivals from Espana with a convincing 72-45 victory, the DLSU Lady Archers were once again successful against the UST Tigresses in their second round battle as they lengthened their winning streak to three games. Improving to an 8-3 win-loss card for the UAAP season thus far, the Lady Archers stay put at third place in the standings with just three more games left to play for the eliminations.
The game saw just two deadlocks and two lead changes throughout, all of which happened in the first period. La Salle squad eventually held the driver’s seat early on, leading UST by seven points at the close of the initial quarter. The second quarter saw the girls in green quickly pick up their offensive rhythm, outscoring the Espana cagebelles, 21-11, manufacturing nine points from turnovers and six fast break points.
Ending the first half with a dominating advantage of 39-22, the Lady Archers took a solid grip of the lead coming into the third period. Suffocated by the defense of the ladies from Taft, UST was limited to just three out of 18 field goals in the quarter, lagging far behind DLSU’s 63.6 percent field goal shooting. The Lady Archers took control of the game, overwhelming the Tigresses with a 27-point lead, courtesy of a strong 19-9 run in the third period.
The final period saw the time and the scoreboard favoring head coach Ty Bautista and his squad. Through consecutive baskets from Lady Archers Trisha Piatos, Miller Ong, and Alyanna Vergara, the lead eventually ballooned to 33 points with just three minutes left in regulation. The brick-like defense of La Salle kept UST from getting back in the game, as they finally succumbed to the Lady Archers after 40 minutes of play, 72-45.
Fourth year guard Trisha Piatos led the scoring anew with 14 points, half of which came during the second quarter pullaway. Reigning Mythical Team memberAra Abaca put up another double-double performance with 13 points coupled with 14 rebounds. UST was led by Lore Rivera and Maica Cortes who had 14 and 11 points respectively.
The second consecutive rout of the Lady Archers enabled the coaching staff to field all 15 DLSU players with 13 of them registering in the scoring column.
With the eliminations about to conclude and with the seedings becoming clearer by the day, every game is vital for the Lady Archers. The Green-and-White contingent look to gain a twice-to-beat advantage for the Final Four and the team is just half a game behind NU for the second spot.
Next up for the Lady Archers are the feisty UP Lady Maroons on September 8, Sunday at 11 AM in the Mall of Asia Arena.
The Scores:
DLSU 72: Piatos-14, Abaca-13, Ong M.-10, Melendres-7, Vergara-6, Santos-5, Ramos-4, Garcia-3, Cocuera-3, Scott-2, Ong A.-2, Claro-2, Revillosa-1, Pineda-0, Oyao-0
UST 45: Rivera-14, Cortes-11, Ong-6, Felisarta-4, Reyes-3, Mejia-3, Salvador-2, Brillante-2, Penaflor-0, Mandilag-0, Magdaluyo-0, Angeles-0, Andrade-0
Quarter Scores: 18-11, 39-22, 58-31, 72-45
