Lady Archers snatch Bronze in UAAP S86 3x3 Women’s Basketball Tournament
DLSU vs. UP Fighting Maroons
The De La Salle University (DLSU) Lady Archers locked in their spot in the Semifinals after defeating the University of the Philippines (UP) Fighting Maroons, 17–16, in their first match on Day 4 of the UAAP S86 3x3 Women’s Basketball Tournament, earlier today at the Ayala Malls Manila Bay – Activity Center.
With one last game in the elimination round, this was the Lady Archers’ last shot to enter the semifinals. Lee Sario opened the scoring of the match with a layup, which put the team at a single-point lead, 1–0. Following this, UP’s Achrissa Maw shot back-to-back points with a bank shot and a sharp two from the wing to take the lead at 1–3. Then, an Ara Bacierto two and a Bettina Binaohan floater in the paint cut the lead to one, 4–5, despite the scoring still in favor of UP. The Lady Archers struggled to get past UP’s defense as Kaye Pesquera quickly stole the inbound ball but failed to score. After Marielle Vingno secured a free throw to tie the score at 9-all, Sario was tightly guarded by UP but the Lady Archer still went for a shot and converted points to take the lead, 10–9. Ann Mendoza then sank a jumper and both of her free throws after drawing a foul, 15–10. In an attempt to close the point gap, Pesquera sank a deep two from the middle of the arc, 16–13, and in the last minute of the game, Maw scored back-to-back points for the Fighting Maroons with a floater and a two from the corner, 17–16, closing in on the Lady Archers. But the last sequence was played safely as Sario took possession of the ball and dribbled out the game clock to secure the win at 17–16.
DLSU vs. NU Lady Bulldogs
Their second match of the day was the semifinal game that delivered contrasting results, after a heartbreaking loss to the National University (NU) Lady Bulldogs, 11–20, taking away their shot at the 3x3 Championships.
The game initially kicked off in favor of the Lady Bulldogs after Tin Cayabyab scored with a jumper and an and-one conversion after drawing a foul, 0–2. Sario was quick to answer with a jumper of her own from the low post, while Bacierto drove into an underhand layup to tie the score at 3-all. Buckets from Cayabyab, Ann Pingol, and Boni Solis widened the point gap to five, leaving La Salle trailing behind at 4–9. Meanwhile, the Lady Archers had difficulty in matching NU’s fast-paced plays, leaving Pingol undefended to freely score with a jumper under the ring, 6–14. Then Ann Mendoza managed to sink back-to-back shots, hoping to close in on NU’s lead, 9–17. In the middle of a sequence, Sario took a fall while guarding and it triggered a pain in her left leg, making her need a substitution and sit out the rest of the game. In the last six seconds, DLSU struggled to take possession of the ball from NU and ran out of time to make a shot. The match ended with a disheartening nine-point gap, 11–20, as the Lady Archers prepared for their battle for third place in the 3x3 Women’s Basketball Tournament against the Adamson University (AdU) Lady Falcons.
DLSU vs. AdU Soaring Falcons
The DLSU Lady Archers capped off their UAAP Season 86 3x3 Women’s Basketball Tournament run by taking home the Bronze in their final match of the day after defeating the Adamson (AdU) Soaring Falcons in a tight overtime battle, 18–16.
It was fast-paced plays for both squads when the game clock started ticking with a Bacierto baseline drive jumper to open the scoring, 1–0. Katrina Agoho quickly answered back with a bank shot to tie the teams at 1-all. Falcon April Tano made her presence known with back-to-back twos from the middle and the wing to take the lead, 3–6. Sario then entered back in the ball game, immediately scoring with a two from the wing and a low-post jumper to take the lead, 7–6. Following this, Adamson struggled to get a shot with La Salle’s tight defense. Lorraine Apag then went for a pump fake and converted with a jumper, 7–8. Mendoza then scored back-to-back points with swift moves around Adamson guards, taking the lead by two points, 12–10. Elaine Etang and Mendoza began utilizing fouls to secure points for their respective teams from free throws, cueing a back-and-forth tying of scores until it reached 14-all. With 47 seconds left on the game clock, Apag scored back-to-back points to pull away from the tie, 15–16. Sario then came in clutch with a jumper in the last 10 seconds to tie the score. Shortly afterward, Apag went for a Hail Mary shot to win the match but missed, calling for overtime, meaning the first team to score two points would win. With a Sario baseline drive jumper and a Mendoza side-step shot, the Lady Archers finally sealed the game at 18–16 and came home with the bronze medal of the UAAP Season 86 3X3 Women’s Basketball Tournament.
