Lady Archers clip Tigresses, claim last UAAP title berth

MANILA, Philippines – La Salle survived a late charge by University of Santo Tomas to clinch the last championship berth in the UAAP women’s basketball tournament on Sunday, December 4 at the Mall of Asia Arena.

The Lady Archers leaned on their old reliables to edge the Tigresses in the rubber match, 74-69, and arrange a best-of-three title match against six-time defending champion National University.

“I’d like to give credit to UST, they played one hell of a series against us but we were the better team this time around,” said coach Cholo Villanueva after his Lady Archers – the No. 2 seed who had a twice-to-bead advantage – rebounded from their 68-57 Game 1 loss last Wednesday.

“We made the proper adjustments on what they are doing on their previous games.”

Fina Niantcho Tchuido led La Salle with 18 points, 12 rebounds, 2 blocks, and 2 steals, while Kreecie Binaohan added her own double-double of 17 points and 10 rebounds.

Ameng Torres also delivered 16 points, 8 boards, and 4 dimes, while Lee Sario collected 12 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists.

Game 1 of the NU-La Salle best-of-three title series will be at 11 am on Wednesday, December 11 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

With UST down by 7 points with 2:14 left in the game, Joylyn Pangilinan and Rocel Dionisio willed the Tigresses back to knot the game at 69 with 47 seconds to go.

But that would be the last UST would see the ball drop in the basket as Pangilinan, Tacky Tacatac, and Eka Soriano missed crucial field goals and free throw attempts.

Binaohan gave La Salle back the lead with two conversions from the line with 31.2 ticks left before Pangilinan and Tacatac missed their triple and putback attempts, respectively.

Marga Jimenez then stretched the Lady Archers’ spread, 72-69, after splitting her freebies but the Tigresses were still within one possession.

Tacatac attempted another triple on the other end but to no avail. Soriano was there for the offensive rebound as she got fouled and was sent to the charity stripe. However, she flunked both, with the second she intentionally missed.

Sario was then fouled but she missed both but got her own rebound that set the stage for Torres to finish the game with her two free throws with 3.2 seconds left.

Agatha Bron paced UST with 13 points, while Soriano had 10 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists, and 3 steals but also committed 6 turnovers.