Lady Archers fall short to Ateneo in OT
The De La Salle University (DLSU) Lady Archers (0–2) fell short to the Ateneo de Manila University (Ateneo) Blue Eagles (1–1) in overtime, 80–87, earlier today at the Adamson University (AdU) Gym.
It was another heartbreak for the Green and White as it was a close game, with Ateneo leading most of the match but La Salle catching up eventually in the fourth to extend the match to an additional five minutes. But the Lady Archers fell just short of outlasting Ateneo in the last minute of overtime.
In the opening quarter, the Lady Archers took a while before finding their rhythm as Ateneo built an early 0–5 lead. Back-to-back points from Lee Sario’s free throws and layup then opened up the scoring for La Salle. From there, Tricia Mendoza and Katelyn Cancio traded baskets with the latter putting Ateneo in the lead, 8–10. With four minutes left in the quarter, Luisa San Juan’s three, Chuchi Paraiso’s layup, and Luisa De La Paz’s pull-up jumper shifted momentum to the Lady Archers, 17–12. Two more threes from San Juan extended this lead before Quinn Dela Rosa’s layup closed out the quarter with La Salle on top, 23–19.
Unlike the previous quarter, La Salle quickly asserted dominance on offense as a San Juan three opened up the second kanto. Then, Mendoza’s long two and another shot from beyond the arc from San Juan gave the Lady Archers their biggest separation, 31–21. Calago and Dela Rosa, however, were quick to respond for Ateneo, making good on a fastbreak opportunity and a layup, respectively. With six minutes left in the half, a three from Calago cut the lead to two, 31–28, before Bettina Binaohan with a three of her own, 34–28. De La Paz then made free throws to extend La Salle’s lead again, but the tandem of Jhazmin Joson’s jumper and Sarah Makanjoula’s layup stopped it short, 38–36. The last bit of action for the first half was Ylassa Eufemiano making a three, giving the Blue Eagles a one-point separation, 38–39.
It was a tied game for the first two minutes of the third quarter, as both teams responded to each other’s baskets, 41-all. At the sixth-minute mark, Binaohan cut Ateneo’s slowly building lead to just one via a shot from beyond the arc, 46–47. This would be observed for most of the quarter, Ateneo would build some separation before the Lady Archers equalized again. Paraiso making one of two free throws was the last play to change the score, 53-all. The quarter finished with a wide Mendoza three, 53-all.
The Lady Archers started the last ten minutes of regular time with a Mendoza block before Calago scored a fastbreak layup, 53–55. Paraiso’s jumper then tied the game which would be the last score for La Salle for a while as the Blue Eagles made a 5–0 run. In the next few plays, Makanjoula’s offensive putbacks allowed Ateneo to build a seven-point lead, 60–67. With 26.9 seconds left in the quarter, Makanjoula committed her fifth foul and was subbed out. From there, the Lady Archers came alive again offensively, kickstarted by a San Juan three, 70–72. With both teams at penalty, Sandra Villacruz missing two free throws was a crucial turning point for La Salle. Paraiso after being fouled then made two free throws to equalize with 1.5 seconds left. Ateneo failed to put up another shot in the next play and officially extended the match to overtime, 72-all.
It was yet again another slow start for the Taft-based squad as Ateneo was able to score first in the beginning of overtime. San Juan’s jumper equalized the score before a Joson three and Calago free throws gave the Blue Eagles a four-point lead, 74–78. From there, the tandem of Paraiso and San Juan scored jumpers and free throws to counter Ateneo’s baskets. Another Joson three then forced La Salle to call a timeout, 80–85. With 29.6 seconds left, a Cancio layup followed by turnovers for the Lady Archers were the last few plays in the match. La Salle finished the match being unable to make another shot, 80–87.
The Lady Archers look to notch their first win of the season against the University of Sto. Tomas (UST) Growling Tigresses (2–0) on Sunday, October 8, 1 PM at the UST Quadricentennial Pavilion.
Box scores:
DLSU 80 — San Juan 15, Paraiso 7, Binaohan 6, De La Paz 5, Sario 4, Mendoza 4, Villava-cua 3, Delos Reyes 2, Bacierto 0, Bojang 0
Ateneo 87 — Calago 10, Joson 9, Solis 9, Makanjuola 8, Villacruz 4, Cancio 4, Dela Rosa 2, Gastador 2
Quarter scores: 23–19, 38–39, 53–53, 72–72, 80–87
