The DLSU Lady Archers broke into the win column of the UAAP Season 88 Women’s Basketball Tournament after a 73-62 victory over the UE Lady Warriors earlier today, October 15, at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
Player of the Game Kyla Go led the way for the Taft-based squad, tallying a double-double of 14 points, 12 rebounds, three steals, and two assists. Kyla Sunga followed up her efforts with 11 points and seven rebounds of her own.
On the other side, Rachel Lacayanga made it difficult for the Lady Archers after scoring her season-high of 21 points, combined with six rebounds.
Tale of two quarters
The Lady Archers and Lady Warriors entered the matchup with a 0-4 record as they sought to break into the win column. DLSU displayed their hunger early on as Mica Camba found Eli Delos Reyes open for an inside basket to draw first blood, 2-0. An eager Paulina Anastacio, facing her former squad, followed this up as she strung a run of her own with a triple and worked inside the paint, splitting her free throws, 6-0. The Lasallians gave the Recto-based squad no room to breathe as they packed the paint to hold UE scoreless for two minutes. Kezza Buscar put an end to UE’s offensive drought as she knocked a mid-range off the short corner, 6-2. La Salle continued to outwork in the paint, successfully fighting for rebounds and forcing them to turn the ball over as the white shirts clogged the passing lanes. Kyla Go then broke the UE defense down to find Aiesha Dizon for the open layup. With UE in disarray on both ends, Camba forced a turnover from the inbound and immediately handed it to Go for the layup, ballooning the gap to double digits, at 14-4. The Lasallians continued to stay relentless as they repeatedly attacked the paint and secured three-point plays as UE’s offense would only come from trips to the line, 26-10. La Salle maintained their dominance on both ends as they answered every UE basket with a counter run, as they closed out the first quarter with a whopping 18-point lead, 32-14.
Coming in from a hot start, La Salle struggled to break down UE’s fortified defense, committing multiple turnovers. Eager to cut the deficit, Rachel Layanga sparked an 8-0 run to pile on pressure to the Taft-based squad, 34-22. La Salle went on a scoring drought until the 6:45 minute as Mendoza’s triple put an end to their struggles, which was followed up by a hustle put-back from Sunga, 39-22. Looking to bring momentum back, Lacayanga kept up her offensive onslaught; however, DLSU answered back to maintain their advantage, 42-28. La Salle’s struggles in the second quarter accumulated to 15 turnovers, exceeding UE’s despite their fiery start. UE amped up their defense, but they would struggle to convert on Lasallian errors. To slowly chip away at their deficit, UE resorted to drawing fouls as Syvil Onate converted on all her shots from the stripes, 44-34. Despite a difficult quarter, La Salle maintained a comfortable 48-34 lead heading into the halftime break.
Winning time
After the break, the Lady Warriors began the third quarter more aggressively. Lacayanga’s defensive efforts gave UE open looks to cut La Salle’s lead to 10, 49-39. La Salle countered by improving their ball movement and getting physical inside the paint to break down UE’s defense. Even with La Salle’s offensive spark, Lacayanga continued to cause problems for the La Salle defense, as she continued to make her way inside the paint. However, DLSU was handed another boost early in the third quarter as Lacayanga and Ivy Yanes were called for their fourth personal fouls. The Lady Archers took advantage of the Lady Warriors’ depleted squad, deploying their signature full-court press that led to easy fastbreak layups to widen the gap to 17, 60-43. Despite a late UE timeout, the Lady Archers continued to control the third quarter in the closing minutes as they extended their lead to 21, 66-45.
The Green-and-White looked to put the finishing touches in the fourth quarter. However, they were slapped with a wake-up call in the first five minutes, conceding a 10-0 run. The return of Lacayanga to the court brought a needed spark for UE, which La Salle was unable to deal with. The Recto-based squad’s full-court trap allowed them straight fastbreak chances and easy handoff opportunities to slash the lead to nine, 66-57. Head Coach Cholo Villanueva called a timeout to stop the bleeding for the Lady Archers and subbed in veteran Mendoza and Sunga. Those decisions proved to be beneficial for La Salle as they were able to extend their lead once again to double digits, 69-57. UE called a timeout in an attempt to create a late rally, but DLSU’s switch to a zone defense countered any glimmer of hope from the Lady Warriors. However, Lacayanga still remained determined to steal a win from the Green-and-White, cutting the lead to seven from her offensive surge, 69-62. However, the Lady Archers remained composed and made dagger shots from their unselfish ball movement to seal their first win of the season, 73-62.
After this win, the Lady Archers now stand at 1-4 in their campaign. They will be looking to add another victory in their encounter with the UP Fighting Maroons this Sunday, October 19, at 7 pm at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The Scores:
DLSU 73 – Go 14, Sunga 11, Lubrico 9, Anastacio 9, Mendoza 8, Delos Reyes 6, Villarin 4, A. Dizon 4, Camba 2, Catalan 2, S. Dizon 2, Dela Paz 2, Villapando 0, Araza 0
UE 62 – Lacayanga 21, Lumibao 11, Onate 10, Delig 6, Buscar 4, Gulim 4, Ronquillo 4, Dalguntas 2, Yanez 0, Solomon 0, Trinidad 0, Lituania 0, Ramos 0, Gomez 0, Salise 0
Quarter Scores: 34-14, 49-34, 66-45, 73-62
