Fil-Oil: Lady Archers fall short against Adamson

Despite a furious late rally which led to just a one point deficit for the DLSU Lady Archers in the last few seconds of the match, the Taft-based ladies succumbed to the AdU Lady Falcons, 58-54, earlier today at The Arena in San Juan.

Inna Corcuera led the Lady Archers with 10 points, while Ana Castillo added another nine points. However, Adamson’s Jesusa Avila scored a game-high 21 points to help her squad dominate their Lasallian opponents.

With the loss, the Lady Archers drop to a 1-1 slate in the Fil-Oil Flying V Hanes Preseason Cup.

It was a slow start for both squads as the first period saw minimal point conversions. Adamson took an early lead as they opened the scoring with back-to-back shots, but the Lady Archers clawed their way back to close the first quarter at 12-all.

Adamson’s hot shooting pestered the Lady Archers in the second period. Outscored by six, 19-13, throughout the quarter, the Lady Archers trailed at the half, 31-25.

Despite Coach Ty Bautista’s halftime adjustments, the Lady Archers were still unable to finally snatch the lead. With Adamson’s pesky defense, La Salle’s usual top scorers Trisha Piatos and Ara Abaca struggled and ended the third period with no point conversion at all. The Lady Archers were again outscored 18-12, to close the third period at 49-37.

The final period saw the Lady Archers trying to initiate a big comeback. Allana Ong instigated a 5-0 run by scoring through a lay-up and drilling a triple to open the fourth period. After an AdU free throw, the Lady Archers were running once again as Jhona Melendres scored six straight points. The Lady Falcons quickly answered, though, with a 5-0 run of its own.

With less than two minutes remaining, Piatos finally nails a three-pointer, her only field goal of the match, and Corcuera scores to keep the Lady Archers behind by just two, 55-53. Abaca splits her free throws with only 40 seconds left in regulation, and La Salle was just down by one. Adamson, however, was able to cash in a clutch three-pointer to seal the game at 58-54.

Next up for the Lady Archers are the UST Tigresses whom they will face on May 17 at 10:30 am in The Arena in San Juan.

Box Scores:

AdU 58: Avila- 21, Mateo- 9, De Castro- 8, Amper- 7, J. Ong- 7, Alcoy- 4, Balasta- 2, Ballado- 0, Sulit- 0, Ido- 0

DLSU 54: Corcuera- 10, Castillo- 10, Garcia- 8, Melendres- 8, A. Ong- 7, Claro- 6, Abaca- 3, Piatos-3, Dagdagan- 0, Lumba- 0, Vergara- 0, Gonzales- 0, Scott- 0, Oyao-0

Quarter scores: 12-12, 31-25, 49-37, 58-54