It shall be a case of life or death for the De La Salle University Lady Archers.
Under pressure to clinch a victory to maintain their post-season hopes in the UAAP Season 82 Women’s Basketball Tournament, the Lady Archers earned a 73-49 win over the UP Lady Maroons, Sunday morning at the Ynares Center in Antipolo City.
The result elevates La Salle’s standing in the elimination round to 7-6 and victory in their next game against the Adamson Lady Falcons will allow the Lady Archers to enter the Final Four for the first time since Season 79 at third seed thanks to their superior quotient over Adamson and FEU while a loss eliminates them from contention.
“It’s our own demons,” said coach Cholo Villanueva. “If we don’t do the right habits and not have the right mindset, disastrous things can happen. Good thing is that they turned things around.“
After a slow start that saw the Lady Archers lead 15-13 after the first quarter, La Salle played an excellent pressing game that forced UP to commit 37 turnovers, which in turn yielded 35 points. Such was the Lady Archers’ dominance that they eventually by as much as 62-32 near the end of the third period courtesy of a three from Chini Espinas.
Lee Sario led La Salle with 13 points followed by Kent Pastrana who contributed 11 baskets. Maureen Okoli flirted with a double-double with 10 points and nine boards while Charmaine Torres had a great all around game with 10 points, five rebounds, six assists and seven steals.
“We worked so hard to get this opportunity that we are one win away from one of our goals,” said Villanueva. “It will boil down to this one game. We need to give all that we got for this game.“
La Salle’s Final Four decider against Adamson shall be played on October 30, 2019 (Wednesday), 8:00 AM at the UST Quadricentennial Pavilion.
Box scores:
La Salle 73 – Sario 13, Pastrana 11, Okoli 10, Torres 10, Dalisay 8, Revillosa 8, Quingco 4, Espinas 3, Jimenez 2, Malarde 2, Paraiso 2, Binaohan 0, Castillo 0, Jajurie 0.
UP 49 – Pesquera 19, Sanchez 11, Ordoveza 6, Hidalgo 5, Rivera 4, Gusilatar 3, Gonzales 1, De Leon 0, Lebico 0, Lucman 0, Taulava 0.
Quarter scores: 15-13, 34-25, 62-34, 73-49.