Yielding to a devastating late-game barrage, the DLSU Lady Archers absorbed a bitter 70-68 defeat at the hands of the Adamson Lady Falcons to drop to a 1-4 standing in their UAAP Season 89 Women’s Basketball Tournament earlier today, October 18, at the Blue Eagle Gym.
Fueling the Green-and-White offense, Kyla Go delivered a 24-point masterclass, while Bukky Ojo physically imposed her will in the paint with a massive 19-point contribution.
Lady Falcon Elaine Etang put up a game-high 25 points to match the defensive pressure on the hardwood. Francine Meniano also followed up with eight points on the board.
Paint versus perimeter
With only one game separating the fourth-seeded AdU Lady Falcons and seventh-seeded DLSU Lady Archers, both squads looked to establish their rhythm early in a crucial matchup for the standings. Despite shooting just 20 percent from beyond the arc this season, Adamson found its stroke early from the perimeter, with Etang opening the game with a second-chance shot before drilling a three-pointer from the left wing for a personal 5-0 run. La Salle quickly responded as Go drained a triple from the right wing before driving and dishing to Ojo for an easy layup to tie the game at 5-5. Jam Meniano then reclaimed the lead with a three-pointer, putting Adamson ahead 8-5.
The Green-and-White struggled from the field, shooting just 22.2 percent midway through the first quarter, but second-chance opportunities kept them within reach. Go then sparked the offense by drawing fouls and sinking five of six free throws in a minute. While the Lady Falcons continued to find open looks from the perimeter, their opportunities failed to convert. La Salle capitalized late in the quarter, with Kyla Sunga scoring on a second-chance bucket before Zyla Lubrico set up a cutting Princess Villarin for a layup, giving the Lady Archers a 17-15 lead to end the frame.
To open the second quarter, Ojo and Shantei Dizon converted consecutive interior shots before Adamson’s Niclen Manlimos drained a triple and Etang followed with a breakaway bucket to trim the deficit to one. Lubrico and Angeline Alaba displayed a perimeter battle as the game inched closer. Both teams settled into a 2-3 zone, with defensive pressure and frequent stoppages disrupting their offensive rhythm. Etang later converted another fastbreak layup to tie the game at 25-all, but Go responded with a steal that led to La Salle’s first fastbreak points. Ojo continued to anchor the paint, reaching a near double-double before the break. However, with 10 seconds remaining, April Tano capitalized on a corner three off Etang’s pass to tie the score at 29-all. Despite La Salle’s advantage on the glass and the charity stripe, Adamson’s perimeter shooting kept the contest deadlocked.
Bitter endgame
Coming off a standstill, the Lady Archers immediately engineered an offensive surge to tilt the contest in their favor. Steph Villapando initiated the attack with a sharp corner triple, while Ojo continued to assert her interior dominance, drawing contact and cleaning up missed second-chance looks. Go followed suit by slicing through the Falcon perimeter defense, completing a series of tough drives and free-throw trips that steadily granted La Salle a 45-35 lead midway through the period. However, the game took an abrupt turn when Go was forced to the bench due to a left ankle injury. Adamson capitalized on DLSU missing its floor general, tightening its backcourt trap to orchestrate a rapid 11-4 run and slash Taft’s large lead to a 49-48 one-point marker heading into the fourth.
The final frame evolved into a frantic back-and-forth shootout. Go braved the injury and re-entered the floor, trading crucial field goals with the Lady Falcons. Oluwakemi Adeshina made her presence felt by draining a smooth middy jumper that forged a tense 51-all game, sparking a grueling stretch where both squads traded baskets to force further ties at 60-all. After a short-lived Lasallian lead, Etang struck from deep with cold-blooded efficiency, putting up consecutive long-range daggers to establish a 70-64 cushion for Adamson with under two minutes remaining. Villapando responded with a clutch triple to pull DLSU within a single possession, but the Lady Archers misfired on their final perimeter shots in the dying seconds, sealing a 70-68 heartbreak to drop to a 1-4 slate while Adamson improved to 3-2.
Looking to bounce back from a discouraging loss, the DLSU Lady Archers aim to hand the undefeated UST Growling Tigresses their first loss of the season on October 21, 11 am, at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
The Scores:
DLSU 68 – Go 24, Ojo 19, Villapando 9, Lubrico 6, Bacierto 2, S. Dizon 2, Villarin 2, Sunga 2, Araza 2, Anastacio 0, A. Dizon 0
AdU 70 – Etang 25, Meniano 8, Apag 7, Manlimos 7, Mazo 6, Adeshina 4, Limbago 3, Tano 3, Alaba 3, Bajo 2, Burgos 2, Munoz 0, Cortez 0, Medina 0
Quarter Scores: 17-15, 29-29, 49-48, 68-70