Coming off a crushing loss against the Elaine Etang-led AdU Lady Falcons that brought down their win-loss record to 2-7, the DLSU Lady Archers succumbed to pressure during the second half of their clash against their archrivals, the ADMU Blue Eagles, 70-57, in their UAAP Women’s Basketball Tournament meeting earlier today, October 26, at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
Despite tallying another tough loss, Luisa San Juan led the Lady Archers in scoring with 19 points and three assists. Lee Sario echoed her teammate’s double-digit performance, following close with 11 markers, one assist, and a steal.
On the side of the Blue Eagles, MVP-frontrunner Kacey Dela Rosa led her team to victory with a tally of 28 markers, 16 rebounds, one assist, and five steals. Kailah Oani and Junize Calago showed up alongside Dela Rosa with 17 and nine points, respectively.
First-half offensive brawl
The DLSU Lady Archers entered the hardwood court with high hopes of recovering from their previous loss against the AdU Lady Falcons. After the tip-off, La Salle immediately went to work with their offensive strategies to give them an early edge into the game. With 4:15 left to play in the opening quarter, veteran Sario was able to draw a foul and split her free throws to propel her team to a two-point margin, 12-10. The Lasallian San Juan-Sario tandem continued to pressure the sluggish defense of the Blue Eagles, converting back-to-back baskets, 19-16. However, La Salle committed a lousy turnover due to the tight defense of Ateneo, allowing the blue shirts to score and cut the deficit to one, 19-18. After the misplay by DLSU, Sario recovered from a missed triple to give them a three-point cushion in the first quarter, 21-18.
After the fast-paced opening minutes in the previous frame, the Green-and-White kept their focus to keep the momentum on their side. However, this was immediately denied by ADMU’s Oani who scored a far three to finally tie the game, 23-all. With 2:17 left in the second quarter, San Juan took control of the ball, squeezing in a jumper and a long three to grab back the lead, 33-27. Spoiling La Salle’s last-minute chances once again was Blue Eagle Dela Rosa who swooshed in another basket to trim down the deficit, 34-31. The first half fortunately ended in favor of the Lady Archers who held onto their 36-31 lead advantage heading into the halftime break.
Breaking the stride
With the Lady Archers running a 2-3 zone to start the second half, they looked to clog the paint and limit their archrivals to taking outside shots. Although ADMU’s perimeter shooting proved to be poor, their inside presence—bannered by the feisty Dela Rosa—was an unstoppable force that heavily punished the team from Taft. The Blue-and-White guards found gaps in the Lasallian zone and fed Dela Rosa down low, helping her score baskets that tied the score, 36-all. After a tough baseline turnaround jumper from San Juan, ADMU’s Oani retaliated by knocking down a pull-up triple off a DLSU turnover, paired with a bank-shot floater that gave the blue side the lead, 41-38. From that point on, Dela Rosa continued to make her presence felt in the post, converting multiple and-one buckets that increased their lead to eight at the 2:30 mark, 49-41. The Green-and-White tried different defensive schemes in an attempt to shift the game’s momentum, including a full-court 2-2-1 press, but their defense was easily broken by the Lady Eagles’ smart passes. Following another Oani triple from the wing, the Green-and-White saw themselves down by 10, 54-44, entering the final quarter of action.
Even in the fourth frame, the Taft-based squad still had no answer for the towering Dela Rosa who garnered points off putback shots and grabbed offensive boards at will. A quick 5-0 run from the blue shirts ballooned their lead to 15, 59-44. The Lady Archers gave themselves a glimmer of hope after a 6-0 run filled with crucial baskets trickled down their deficit to nine, forcing ADMU to call a timeout, 59-50. With a six-minute window to attempt a miraculous comeback, the Green-and-White unfortunately faltered; their momentum coming to a screeching halt as they suffered a dry spell on offense and their defense failed to stop the Blue Eagle frontcourt. Oani’s fifth triple of the match in the final minute ultimately sealed the deal, though San Juan’s late three-point shot lowered their deficit, setting the concluding score at 70-57.
After falling to 2-8 in the standings, the Lady Archers look to end their losing skid in their next second-round fixture against the FEU Lady Tamaraws on Wednesday, November 6, at 10 am at the same venue.
The Scores:
DLSU 57 – San Juan 19, Sario 11, Mendoza 8, Sunga 8, Paraiso 4, Dalisay 3, Dela Paz 3, Rodriguez 1, Bacierto 0, Villava-Cua 0
ADMU 70 – Dela Rosa 28, Oani 17, Calago 9, Makanjuola 7, Angala 3, Villacruz 2, Batongbakal 2, Aquirre 2, Cancio 0, Nieves 0
Quarter Scores: 21-28, 36-31, 44-54, 57-70
