Lady Tams, Lady Archers tie at 3-0

By Anthony Divinagracia Posted Jul 12th 2013

Perennial title-contenders Far Eastern University (FEU) and De La Salle University disposed of separate opponents Thursday to remain unscathed in the 76^th UAAP women’s basketball tournament at the Blue Eagle gym.

The defending back-to-back champion Lady Tamaraws repulsed Ateneo de Manila University in its own backyard, 51-48, while last year’s runner-up Lady Archers edged Adamson University, 45-43, in overtime to post identical 3-0 marks.

Camille Sambile scored 14 points while Vangie Soriano added nine and 13 rebounds to lead FEU, which took a 38-28 advantage before the Lady Eagles mounted a searing 11-2 attack that knotted the count at 39-all early in the fourth quarter.

But the Lady Tamaraws quickly responded with a 9-2 counterattack to retake the lead, 48-41, for good.

Danica Jose chipped in an all-around performance of 12 markers, 18 boards, five assists, and four blocks to pace Ateneo. Binky Uy de Ong backstopped Jose with 12 points.

La Salle meanwhile played catch-up to the Lady Falcons in regulation before Trisha Piatos nailed a go-ahead three-pointer to put the Lady Archers up for the first time, 40-37, with 4:14 in the extra period.

Adamson would later wrest the upperhand in the last 1:24 of the contest  as Analie Tongco and Kanille de Castro buried a triple and a freethrow, respectively to make it 43-42. Yet there was no denying the Lady Archers, who thwarted several Adamson incursions on the other end before finalizing the count on a Camille Ramos basket and an Ara Abaca split.

None of the Lady Archers managed to score in double figures with Cass Santos and Abaca tallying 8 and 7 markers to lead La Salle. The duo however grabbed 12 and 17 rebounds for good measure.

Tongco top-scored for Adamson with 13 points, while De Castro hauled down a record of 19 caroms, with eight coming from the offensive glass.

In other games, University of the Philippines claimed its first win by outlasting University of Santo Tomas (UST), 51-49, while National University returned to the win column via a 62-41 shellacking of University of the East.