The DLSU Lady Archers triumphed against their archrivals, the ADMU Lady Eagles, 62-53, earlier today at the Mall of Asia Arena. With the win, the Green-and-White stopped their losing streak and improved to a 4-5 win-loss standing.
La Salle’s Charmaine Torres outscored all players from both squads with 17 points, in addition to providing eight boards and four assists. Kent Pastrana also contributed to the winning cause, scoring 12 points and six rebounds.
In the losing effort, Alyssa Villamor tallied 12 points to help the cause of Ateneo. Joanne Nimes and Hazelle Yam recorded 11 and 10 points, respectively.
“[Torres] gave her heart out today. [She] played with pride, never wanted to lose the game, so she played very [well],” head coach Cholo Villanueva praised Torres for her breakout game this season.
Unpredictable start
The Lady Archers opened the match with a layup coming from Pastrana at the 9:50 mark. The Lady Eagles answered back with consecutive three-point shots as Villamor and Mel Newsome each delivered from the wing, 6-3. Just as Ateneo was beginning to pull away, six straight points from Lee Sario gave the Green-and-White the momentum, 16-14, with 1:42 left in the period.
Jhaz Joson helped the cause of the Blue-and-White as she hit a dagger from the three-point line at the last 29 seconds of the first quarter, 17-16. Meanwhile, Lady Archer Bea Dalisay drew a foul and was able to convert both free throws, 18-17. At the last second, however, an impossible shot by Villamor from half court gave the lead back to the team from Katipunan, 20-18.
With momentum slowly creeping in on the side of the Lady Archers, the squad played with more grit and tenacity in the second quarter. At the 7:11 mark, Dalisay converted her shot to equalize the match, 22-all. However, Lady Eagle Villamor found her groove and continued scoring from beyond the arc to take back the lead, 25-22.
At the 5:41 mark, Torres hit a field goal to cut the deficit, 26-24. Bennette Revillosa found her rhythm and helped the team from Taft tie the score once more, 26-all. Both sides went without scoring for several minutes. At the 1:20 mark, another Villamor three-pointer gave ADMU the advantage, 29-27.
After drawing a blocking foul from Kat Guytingco, Torres converted all of her free throws, equalizing the match once more, 29-all. With possession on the side of the Green-and-White, Revillosa sank a three-point buzzer-beater of her own, 32-29, to end the first half.
Heating up
The Green-and-White held a slim three-point advantage at halftime, which the team gradually built in the third quarter. La Salle opened the second half by scoring two successive baskets, with one coming from a Pastrana layup and another from a Sario three-pointer. Increasing their defense on the Lady Eagles, the Lady Archers forced their archrivals to miss several open three-point attempts and commit multiple turnovers down the stretch.
Pastrana poured in eight points by converting opportunities given to her by the ADMU defense. Backing her up were Sario, Maureen Okoli, and Betts Binaohan who combined for eight points as well. Both teams exchanged buckets toward the end of the quarter. By the end of the third period, La Salle secured a seven-point lead over Ateneo, 49-42.
In hopes of taking the game, the team from Taft controlled the pace in the first three minutes of the fourth quarter. However, not wanting to surrender the game to their archrivals, the team from Katipunan began to respond with a sense of urgency.
Unfazed by ADMU’s change of pace, Torres went on a scoring tear and notched nine points—more than half of her total output this game—to help seal the victory for DLSU. Taking advantage of an Ateneo turnover, Torres went on the run for a fast break, but was fouled by Lady Eagle Zoe Chu mid-play. She then made all of her free throws to further boost the final scoreline in La Salle’s favor, 62-53.
“‘Di ko iniisip yung standing namin. Mas iniisip ko yung kailangan gawin sa loob ng court. Kailangan mag-focus,” Torres shared after her performance.
(I’m not thinking about our standing. I’m thinking more about what needs to be done inside the court—the need to focus.)
Still gunning for a Final Four slot, head coach Villanueva mentioned that he wants his team to be in control of their destiny, “We don’t want to wait for other teams to win or lose games for us to go in the Final Four. It’s going to be a big mountain to climb, but this is the first step.”
The DLSU Lady Archers are looking to win back-to-back games as they face the UE Lady Warriors, who are coming off a loss against the UP Lady Maroons, on Wednesday, October 16, at 8 am at the same venue.
The scores:
DLSU (62) – Torres 17, Pastrana 12, Revillosa 9, Sario 9, Okoli 5, Dalisay 4, Binaohan 2, Paraiso 2, Quingco 2
ADMU (53) – Villamor 12, Nimes 11, Yam 10, Guytingco 8, Payac 4, Joson 3, Newsome 3, Chu 2
Quarter scores: 18-20, 32-29, 49-42, 62-53
