Lady Bulldogs survive La Salle fourth quarter rally

By Donjie Carreon Posted Jul 28th 2013

National University weathered a furious rally by the De La Salle University for a 64-55 victory on Sunday at the Filioil Flying V Arena in San Juan to grab a share of the second spot in the UAAP Season 75 women’s basketball tournament.

NU appeared headed for an easy win as it built a 57-34 lead with eight minutes left, but La Salle unloaded a 20-2 bomb behind tighter defense and the regained shooting touch of Arra Abaca, who capped the rally with three straight drives.

But the Lady Bulldogs recovered from the haymaker and scored five points while limiting the Lady Archers to just a free throw to get the win.

Afril Bernardino led NU with16 points and 19 rebounds, none more crucial than her putback with two minutes left to respond to Abaca’s explosion. Anne Gupilan added 10 points and seven rebounds, while Trixie Antiquiera had nine as she made all her three point shots. Abaca topscored for La Salle with 18 and pulled down nine boards.

NU coach Patrick Henry Aquino admitted the team was jittery towards the end, but was satisfied with how they recovered.

“This is still a young team… We were a losing team before and I guess that doubt is still with some players. But this is a big win for us kasi we’re lining up for the top place, “he said.

The Lady Bulldogs pounced early as they held the usually accurate Lady Archers to just 17 first half points with a relentless defensive rotation while scoring 35 of their own. La Salle’s shots finally started falling in the third quarter as they managed 17 points, but failed to cool off NU, which scored 20.

NU won the rebound battle 43-35 to limit La Salle’s attempts. To make matters worse, La Salle failed to capitalize on NU’s aggressive defense converting just 14 of its 29 free throws, and managing to score just 18 off the Lady Bulldogs 29 turnovers.

NU is tied with La Salle at 5-1 mark, behind defending champion Far Eastern University which remains unbeaten in six games after it demolished the University of the East, 74-53, earlier in the day.

The Scores:

NU 64 - Bernardino 16, Gupilan 10, Antiquera 9, Escoto 8, Abriam 7, Tongco 6, Bonleon 6, Paig 2, Sison 0, Seno 0.

DLSU 55 - Abaca 18, Piatos 9, Corcuera 7, Ong 8, Santos 6, Scott 2, Revillosa 2, Gonzales 2, Claro 1, Vergara 0, Ramos 0, Ong 0, Garcia 0.

Quarter Scores: 16-7, 35-17, 55-34, 64-55

FEU 74 - Sambile 29, Valenzona 10, Soriano 9, Albano 9, Siat 8, Tanamn 6, Gabriel 3, Lozano 0, Chan 0, Castro 0, Basa 0, Arellado 0.

UE 53 - Doqueza 18, Ventura 15, Valdez 4, Tacula 4, Mendina 4, Domino 3, Ano-os 3, Ramos 2, Sta. Domingo 0, Bale 0.

Quarter Scores: 9-12, 28-20, 44-40, 74-53