UAAP: Lady Archers surge past UP behind Melendres’ shooting display

The DLSU Lady Archers shrugged off a hard fighting Maroons squad, 62-40, behind a fourth quarter run to push their winning streak to four, earlier today at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum.

Jonah Melendres waxed hot for 15 points, all on three-point shots to lead DLSU. Camille Claro chipped in nine markers and five assists while Inna Corcuera had seven points to aid in the winning cause.

Meanwhile, UP was led by Bea Daez’s double-double of 19 points and 10 boards. Antonia Wang added a game high 11 rebounds, with five coming off the offensive glass, in the losing effort.

Daez started things off by draining two threes to give UP the lead, 6-2, midway through the first period. Melendres, however, answered back with two triples of her own to take the lead back, 8-6. The quarter ended with La Salle leading UP by three, 12-9.

The second quarter saw the Lady Archers go on an 11-2 run that gave them a double digit lead, 28-16, with four minutes remaining in the half. The Lady Maroons countered with an 8-0 blast to cut the lead to four to close out the period. Daez was once again behind the run, hitting two rainbow shots in the closing run to bring her halftime total to 15 points.

La Salle began tightening up in the defensive end in the third, making the Diliman-based cagebelles bleed for every basket. This resulted into UP converting only one field goal shot, a three pointer by Iriss Isip. The Green-and-White outscored their opponents 13-6 in the quarter to bring their lead to 11, 41-30.

It was in the fourth quarter when the Lady Archers finally pulled away from the Lady Maroons. Melendres went on a scoring tear, hitting three straight shots from rainbow country to balloon La Salle’s lead to 16. A 10-0 run with less than two minutes remaining ended any chance of a UP comeback, sealing the victory for Taft-based squad.

Coming up for the Lady Archers are the FEU Lady Tamaraws whom they face on Sunday, September 3, at the Blue Eagle Gym.