Lady Archers shoot down UST in OT to enter Finals, AdU stays alive

By Anton Roxas Posted Sep 22nd 2013

De La Salle University caught fire at the right time as it used a 9-0 run in overtime to outlast the University of Santo Tomas, 81-74, and enter the UAAP Season 76 women’s basketball Finals on Sunday, September 22, 2013 at the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.

UST delivered what looked to be the knockout punch as it led DLSU, 66-61, with less than eleven seconds to go in the fourth quarter.

However, the Lady Archers just refused to quit.

Coming off a timeout, Lady Archer Ara Abaca scored quickly on a driving lay-up. Moments later, UST's Maica Cortes was fouled and sent to the charity stripe with a chance to put the game away for the Tigresses. However, Cortes, missed both free-throws and UST committed a mental lapse by fouling a DLSU player to give the Lady Archers a chance to inbound the ball from the sideline.

With 1.9 seconds left and UST’s defense focused on Trisha Piatos, Abaca, who threw in the inbounds pass, found back-up point guard Camille Claro wide open at the top of the key for an uncontested three-pointer. Claro hit the shot at the buzzer, to knot the game up at 66.

Piatos exploded with a game-high 28 points for DLSU. The shifty combo guard was red hot from downtown shooting 6 out of 12 from three-point range. Claro, the hero of the game, contributed 16 points off the bench. Abaca finished with a double-double for the Lady Archers, scoring 14 points and grabbing 16 rebounds.

In the other Final Four match-up, Adamson University shocked National University, 76-71 to force a deciding game for the right to advance to the Finals to face DLSU.

Jinky Balasta led the way for the Lady Flacons with her game-high 21 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists and 4 steals.

Box scores:

First game:

AdU 76 – Balasta 21, Tongco 16, Mateo 9, De Castro 9, Cochico 9, Garrido 6, Taller 2, Quingco 2, Ong 2, Bilbao 0, Avila 0.

NU 71 – Bernardino 19, Gupilan 16, Paig 13, Tongco 9, Abriam 6, Bonleon 3, Antiquiera 3, Sison 2, Seno 0, Maghibon 0, Escoto 0, Cenarosa 0.

Quarter scoring: 14-19, 36-38, 50-55, 76-71.

Second game:

DLSU 81 – Piatos 28, Claro 16, Abaca 14, Santos 8, Ong M. 5, Vergara 2, Ramos 2, Melendres 2, Garcia 2, Corcuera 2, Ong A. 0.

UST 74 – Reyes 17, Rivera 16, Cortes 13, Ong 9, Magdaluyo 5, Felisarta 5, Salvador 4, Mejia 3, Angeles 2.

Quarter scoring: 12-21, 24-39, 48-51, 66-66, 81-74 OT.