La Salle’s Bea Dalisay.–UAAP PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — La Salle survived Far Eastern University in double overtime, 73-70, to keep its Final Four hopes alive in the UAAP Season 86 women’s basketball tournament on Saturday at Mall of Asia Arena.
Bea Dalisay, Luisa Dela Paz, and Lee Sario put on the finishing touches for the Lady Archers in the second OT to stave off the gritty Lady Tamaraws and improve to 4-6.
Dalisay drilled a clutch three-pointer to give La Salle a 69-66 breather with 3:16 left. Josee Kaputu and Shane Salvani put FEU within striking distance but Dela Paz and Sario kept them at bay with a 72-70 lead.
Sario extended it to a three-point lead with her split free throw, 73-70, with 21.7 seconds remaining. FEU couldn’t tie the game after Salvani’s bad pass that was intercepted by La Salle.
“We needed to stay in the game, be smart, really want to win. Yung possession for possession game we need to be very good executing offensively while defensively, wanting the ball more than FEU and it showed during the last stops of the game,” said La Salle coach Cholo Villanueva, whose team is in fifth just two and a half games behind fourth-running Ateneo.
Sario showed the way for the Lady Archers with 11 points and 13 rebounds. Dalisay had 11 points, three rebounds, and three assists. Bettina Binaohan and Bernice Paraiso delivered 10 points apiece, while Tricia Mendoza added nine points, 12 rebounds, and five steals.
Salvani delivered the game-tying baskets in the fourth quarter and first overtime as she finished with 13 points, 16 rebounds, seven assists, two steals, and two blocks, while Kaputu had 20 points and 22 rebounds only for FEU to drop to 3-7 tied with Adamson.
Adamson’s Cheska Apag.–UAAP PHOTO
Meanwhile, Cheska Apag and Victoria Adeshina delivered in the clutch to end Adamson’s three-game skid with a 71-66 victory over also-ran University of the East.
Apag led the Lady Falcons with 19 points, three assists, three steals, and two blocks, while Adeshina chipped in 10 points, 10 rebounds, and two steals as they improved to 3-7 in seventh place to stay in Final Four contention with slim chances — 3.5 games behind No.4 Ateneo.
“I think these kinds of games will help us to gain more experience will help us to gain more experience (in) grind-out games,” said Adamson coach Ryan Monteclaro.
“Kudos to UE. In the first round, we were able to beat them by 30 points. These types of games are the things that we need moving forward.”
UE remained winless in 10 games with its 33rd straight loss since 2019.
Malienne center Kamba Kone had 14 points, 15 rebounds, two steals, and a block for the Lady Red Warriors, while Dianne Pedregosa contributed 11 points and nine rebounds.