Now standing at 1-3, the DLSU Lady Archers defeated the AdU Lady Falcons for their first win of Season 86 in a back-and-forth matchup, 63-55, earlier today, at the Adamson Gymnasium.
Following a three-game losing streak, La Salle’s offense flourished with Lee Sario leading the way. In the victory, the wing scored 20 points and was hot from beyond the arc with four three-pointers. Also tallying double-digit markers in the win was Bernice Paraiso who added 11 points, while Bettina Binaohan provided an all-around game with 10 points, five rebounds, two assists, three steals, and two blocks. On the defensive end, Beth de los Reyes stood out by tallying five steals for the Green and White.
In the trying effort, Ann Dampios chipped in 16 points on four threes for the Lady Falcons. Meanwhile, Victoria Adeshina had 12 points on 50 percent shooting, seven rebounds, and three steals of her own.
Hopeful start
The opening quarter featured sloppy offense and fragile defense in the paint from the Lady Archers, leading to a quick 5-0 run by the Lady Falcons, courtesy of Adeshina. Halting the early disparity from growing further was the pair of Angel Villava-Cua and Luisa San Juan, each scoring two-pointers to put DLSU on the board, 5-4.
The majority of the first period saw Adamson maintain a one-point lead. Lady Falcon Dampios added to this with a three-pointer for a four-point advantage, 14-10. However, in the final 53.5 seconds of the quarter, La Salle would go on to spark an 8-0 run.
Tricia Mendoza was fouled twice, making all four of her free throws, simultaneously buying time for the Lady Archers, 14-all. After that, de los Reyes split a pair of freebies, but DLSU secured the rebound on the missed shot and headed to the huddle for a timeout. After Head Coach Cholo Villanueva drew up a play, La Salle immediately went to work with Sario hitting one from downtown, 18-14, to end the first quarter strong and in fashion.
Grit & grind battle
The succeeding quarter saw both teams making runs that resulted in several lead changes. Binaohan kickstarted the second with a couple of baskets from outside the paint—one of which was a post-up fadeaway shot that left the spectators in awe, 22-14. After a technical foul was called on Adamson’s head coach Ryan Monteclaro, the La Salle guard extended her streak of points to five.
The Lady Archers’ run was unfortunately short-lived, though. Despite Binaohan’s hot hand, Dampios showcased a shooting clinic of her own, fueling an Adamson offensive outburst with ten out of twelve straight points in just a span of two minutes. The Lady Falcons had the lead in what was a complete turnaround, 28-23.
Not backing down from the fight, the Lady Archers started to show life. Paraiso ended the La Salle offensive drought with an open layup. On the other end, La Salle’s guards were making defensive stops and tallying multiple steals. A variety of players from the Green and White also helped regain the lead for their team, but it was Paraiso who extended the Lady Archers’ run to 11-4 with a wing three. The Taft-based team led 34-32 at the half, courtesy of the La Salle forward with nine points on perfect three-of-three shooting.
The Sario show
Lady Falcon Adeshina opened up the scoring in the third quarter, tying the game at 34-all. Soon after, defense proved to be the name of the game, leaving both teams scoreless until Sario hit a spin jumper to give the lead back to the Taft-based side, 36-34. Another short period of defensive grit from both ends was on display before Dampios took the lead for Adamson, 37-36, at the 5:48 mark.
La Salle, eager to regain the lead, turned to Sario as she caught fire scoring from deep before adding two more baskets to her name, giving La Salle a 43-37 advantage. Baskets were then traded between both sides taking the score to 45-40 before both teams were locked in a shootout from deep to end the quarter after an exchange of three-pointers between Adamson’s Kim Limbago and Angela Alaba versus La Salle’s Sario, 48-46.
Finishing strong
The Lady Falcons opened up the scoring in the final period, once more putting the game at another deadlock 48-all. As the game went by, Crisnalyn Padilla took the lead for Adamson after a fadeaway jumper before Binaohan hit a tough basket of her own bringing the scoreline in the tight affair to 50-all at the 7:28 mark. With both teams playing intense defense, baskets were forced to be earned on the charity stripe as de los Reyes and Sario took back the lead at 53-50.
Baskets beyond the arc proved to be the difference in the fourth quarter as San Juan and Sario hit back-to-back threes to give the Lady Archers taking the score to 59-51 with 4:26 remaining. This proved to be the icing on the cake as La Salle was able to reply to Adamson’s remaining attempts as the game finished 63-55, finally putting The Lady Archers on the win column.
The Lady Archers face the challenge of keeping their newfound momentum as they go against the defending champion NU Lady Bulldogs in what will be a rematch from the UAAP Season 85 Finals this coming Sunday, October 15, at 9 am, at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
The Scores:
DLSU 63 – Sario 20, Paraiso 11, Binaohan 10, Mendoza 6, San Juan 5, de los Reyes 4, de la Paz 3, Dalisay 2, Villava-Cua 2
AdU 55 – Dampios 16, Adeshina 12, Limbago 9, Padilla 7, Alaba 7, Etang 4
Quarter Scores: 18-14, 34-32, 48-46, 63-55
