UAAP: Lady Archers capture championship, end title drought

“I want focus!” exclaims head coach Tyrone Bautista during the huddle in the dying minutes of the game.

The DLSU Lady Archers were fazed by a strong comeback by the NU Lady Bulldogs in a late rally which saw the La Salle lead shrink to just four points after they led by 17 just a few minutes prior. Composure was the name of the game though, as the Taft-based squad denied NU a chance of snatching the game as they went on to win the game, 69-61.

Leading the pack for La Salle was Trisha Piatos, who was hailed as the Finals MVP after chipping in an average of 14.7 points, five rebounds, two blocks and 2.3 steals for all three championship games. The victory ended the championship drought for the Lady Archers since their last triumph in 2002.

“She has been with me for four years now, the girl is a hard worker. She was just totally rewarded today because of her hard work.”, Bautista said of the pint-sized Finals MVP.

The scoring started off cold for both squads as they were held scoreless in the first three minutes of the match. The first period saw a tugging battle with both teams answering each basket made. The first quarter ended with the score pinned close at 15-13 in favor of DLSU.

The second period shared almost the same story as the first. Both squads prevented each other from making runs and rhythmic offensive plays. No team had loosened up their grip as La Salle led by just one point, 30-29, at the end of the first half.

The Lady Archers had only a one point lead coming out of the halftime huddle as they looked to break away from NU in the season-defining match. The Taft squad started the third quarter strong, forcing NU to commit a total of 27 turnovers that resulted to 12 fastbreak points. The ladies from Taft outscored their opponents by 12, 23-11, to increase their lead to 13 by the end of the third period.

Going into the fourth canto, a 53-40 score in favor of DLSU turned into a 17 point lead with seven minutes left to play after several baskets from Inna Corcuera and Jonah Melendres

NU did not quit as they had a furious rally to crawl back to within four points with 29.4 seconds remaining. Ara Abaca and Camille Claro each split their charities to further pad their lead to 67-61. Key defensive stops for the Lady Archers sealed the pulsating win.

Camille Ramos the only graduating player put an end to her UAAP career with a breakaway layup as time expired and the celebration started.

The NU Lady Bulldogs settled for runners-up and were led by Risa Paig who had a game-high 21 points and Afril Bernardino who contributed 16 points and 14 rebounds.

After the game, La Salle coach Ty Bautista could not control his emotions as he and his team avenged their Finals loss to Feu last season.

“I tried to be as stoic as coach Juno [Sauler of the Green Archers], but i could not help it”, the smiling Bautista said.

The scores:

DLSU 69- Abaca 16, Piatos 15, Corcuera 10, Ong A. 8, Santos 5, Claro 5, Melendres 4, Ramos 2, Ong M. 2, Garcia 2

NU 61- Paig 21, Bernardino 16, Abriam 7, Tongco 6, Gupilan 6, Bonleon 4, Escoto 1, Sison 0, Seno 0, Antiquera 0

Quarter scores: 15-13, 30-29, 53-40, 69-61