Lady, Green Archers stumble to third and fifth-place finishes

Both the DLSU Green Archers and the Lady Archers were pegged as favorites to either take one of the top two spots of the Final Four or even clinch the championship that both teams last won in 2013.Unfortunately, certain circumstances prevented both teams from reaching the championship stage, with the Green Archers even missing the Final Four for the first time since 2011.

Though they finished the elimination round with a 12-2 win-loss record, the DLSU Lady Archers had their season come to a shocking end after an upset by the ADMU Lady Eagles in two games during the stepladder semifinals of the UAAP Season 78 Women’s Basketball Tournament.

The Green Archers began their season on a high note when they defeated Season 77 champion NU, 67-63. From there, they suffered two crucial losses to the UP Fighting Maroons and the FEU Tamaraws, with the latter dealing them a crushing defeat early in the season. From there, La Salle went on to win three out of their four games in the first round, capped off by a comeback win over archrival Ateneo.

In the second round, DLSU’s endgame struggles continued to hound them as they could not close out the likes of AdU, UST, and even NU. Though they picked up wins over UE and UP, they could not close out their other winnable games, a development that would haunt them in the end despite being in control of their Final Four fate. In their season finale against FEU, DLSU could not overcome FEU’s bench as the Tamaraws overcame a deficit to take a 71-68 victory that sent the Green Archers into the offseason.

The Lady Archers opened Season 78 with a 90-78 loss to the NU Lady Bulldogs, but La Salle went on a 12-game winning streak that ended in their regular season finale against NU. Throughout the elimination round, they utilized a full-court press that converted turnovers into fastbreak opportunities. DLSU, who were led on the offense by the veteran trio of Ara Abaca, Ana Castillo, and Camille Claro, relied on ball movement and crisp three-point shooting to account for majority of their points scored.

La Salle remained confident entering their Final Four match-up against the Ateneo Lady Eagles, as their opponents needed to beat third-seed UE while they got to rest before facing an opponent they had swept in the elimination round. In the end, the Lady Eagles were the hungrier team, as they capitalized on inconsistent play from DLSU to take Game 1 and steal Game 2 from their heavily favored opponents.

All was not lost for Season 78 as Jeron Teng and Ara Abaca were awarded for their fine play this season with spots in their respective Mythical Fives, while Andrei Caracut was named this season’s Rookie of the Year after averaging 9.2 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 2.1 assists in 12 games.