UAAP: FEU snaps Lady Archers’ second round win streak

Angel Arellano drilled a triple with 35 seconds remaining to help the FEU Lady Tamaraws put away the DLSU Lady Archers, 48-43, in their showdown at the Blue Eagle Gym in Quezon City.

Arellano, apart from her game sealing shot, led the Lady Tamaraws with 19 points coming off the bench. Backcourt partner Jacqueline Tanaman added eight markers, 11 rebounds, and seven dimes in the victory that helped the Morayta-based cagebelles get a hold of the third spot. They were previously in a four-way deadlock with UST, Ateneo, and Adamson.

DLSU was once again spearheaded by Trisha Piatos with 17 markers. Nicole Garcia had an 11-point, 14-rebound performance for a double-double. She also snatched a game high four steals in the loss.

FEU scored the first six points in the first period while holding La Salle without a bucket for the first five minutes. The Lady Archers would answer back with a 10-2 run to take the lead from the Tamaraws, 10-8, to end the quarter. It was another scoring struggle in the second quarter for both teams. The Morayta-based squad once again scored the first six points of the period while playing an even stingier defense in the first. They limited the Lady Archers to just four points, while they could only come up with 10. The low scoring first half ended with an 18-14 score in favor of the FEU squad.

The Lady Archers tied the game, 20-20, seven minutes into the third behind a Trisha Piatos jumper. FEU would however counter with an 8-0 blast that gave them an eight point advantage with four minutes remaining in the quarter. Piatos refused to back down, scoring DLSU’s next eight points to close the gap to four before the fourth canto. Piatos’ efforts translated to 10 points in the period. The Lady Tamaraws attempted to pull away several times in the fourth, with La Salle being able to answer back to reduce their lead to a single possession. Arellano would then hit on a triple to give her team a six-point advantage with less than two minutes remaining.

Shortly after, Nicole Garcia would hit her own triple to cut the lead back to three. Arellano would then hit her game deciding shot, and despite a last gasp three-pointer from Piatos, FEU was able to hold on for the win.

Despite the loss, DLSU already locked up the second seed in the final four owing to their victory over UP. On the other hand, FEU is still in danger of dropping in the standings depending of the results of the final matches in the eliminations.

The scores:

FEU(48)– Arellano 19, Tanaman 8, Castro 8, Siat 4, Gabriel 4, Chan 3, Valenzona 2, Ventura 0, Lozano 0, Abat 0.

DLSU(43)– Piatos 17, Garcia 11, A.Ong 6, Santos 5, Concuera 2, Roxas 2, Claro 0, M.Ong 0, Melendres 0, Vergara 0, Castillo 0. Quarter Quarter scores: 8-10, 18-14, 32-28, 48-43