A rematch of last year’s finals match-up ended with the same result as the NU Lady Bulldogs easily dispatched of the DLSU Lady Archers, 77-56, earlier today at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Angel Figueroa led the Lady Archers with 15 points while Khate Castillo added 11 points in a gallant effort against the defending champions. Rhena Itesi paced the Lady Bulldogs with a double-double, scoring 21 points while grabbing 15 rebounds and shooting 69 percent from the field.
First half
The defending champions dictated the pace of the game early on as they quickly went on a 9-0 run against the Lady Archers. NU pushed the lead to double digits with Itesi leading the way. The first quarter ended in favor of the Lady Bulldogs, 22-10.
The Green-and-White battled back in the second quarter as they limited the defending champions to only 11 points. Many of the Lady Archers’ starters struggled with foul trouble but La Salle’s bench stepped up in the first two quarters by scoring 20 points to keep the team afloat. DLSU, however, still trailed 33-25 at half time.
Second half
Trixie Antiquera quickly made a three-pointer to start the third quarter to push the NU lead back to double digits, 36-25. On the other hand, the Lady Bulldogs’ defense kept La Salle scoreless until Charmaine Torres made a basket at the 7:11 mark. The drought continued for the Lady Archers as they only managed to score again at the halfway mark of the period, with Charlene Javier knocking down a jumper. Itesi, Antiquera, Ria Nabalan, and Jack Animam all dominated for the defending champions as they opened up a 26 point lead over the Lasallians. The Taft-based squad did end the quarter on a 7-0 run, to cut the lead to 55-36, to gain a bit of momentum heading into the final ten minutes of play.
Castillo made another three-pointer for the Lady Archers to begin the fourth quarter but Samantha Harada of NU quickly answered back. With Castillo starting to heat up, though, DLSU unleashed a 10-2 run to cut the deficit down to 10 points, 59-49, with still seven minutes remaining. The Lady Archers’ full-court press rattled the defending champions as they had a difficult time bringing the ball down.
After a timeout, the Lady Bulldogs countered with an 18-7 run to end La Salle’s hopes of a comeback. Itesi and Animam’s post play in the crucial stages of the fourth quarter proved too much for La Salle’s defense as they kept on scoring at will inside the paint.
DLSU was just unable to handle NU’s strength in rebounding with the latter outrebounding them, 56-34, with Itesi and Animam combining for 36 of those boards. La Salle also just shot a disappointing 26.5 percent from the field, as compared to 44 percent shooting by the Lady Bulldogs.
The DLSU Lady Archers will look to snatch their first win of the season against the AdU Lady Falcons on September 20, 8am, at the Mall of Asia Arena.
The scores:
DLSU 56 – Figueroa 15, Castillo 11, Torres 6, Javier 5, Jimenez 4, Vergara 4, Paraiso 3, Nunez 3, Del Campo 3, Arciga 2, Dagdagan 0
NU 77 – Itesi 21, Nabalan 19, Antiquera 11, Animam 9, Sison 5, Del Carmen 4, Harada 4, Camelo 2, Ano-os 2, Ceno 0, Tanesa 0
Quarterscores: 10-22, 25-33, 36-55, 56-77
