Lady Falcons slam DLSU to hold steady at solo third
Date Posted: October 21, 2024 at 03:27 PM
A final four appearance is slowly becoming clearer for the Lady Falcons as they maintain rank number three in the UAAP 87 Women’s Basketball Tournament after a dominant victory over De La Salle University.
The ladies from San Marcelino dazzled their way to a lopsided 72-49 victory during the tourney’s installment held at the University of Santo Tomas Quadricentennial Pavilion in the evening of October 19, springing right back to winning from after a slim defeat against FEU in their previous game.
“I was just telling the players, the word success will be defined on how we bounce back after adversities after we fail. Today, it's a testament of how they responded. Hindi sa amin [coaches] ‘yan, it's up to the players. We just challenged them and I'm very proud of how they collectively performed,” head coach Ryan Monteclaro shared.
Both teams matched each other’s high paced energy in the first half, trading points to maintain a tight scoreline. Still, the Lady Falcons managed to take the edge with a narrow three point lead, 33-30, heading into half time.
The Lady Falcons then flexed their grit moving forward, serving another masterclass in the defensive end and forcing the Lady Archers to commit 32 turnovers, which allowed them to capitalize on and produce 22 points.
“Para sa akin talaga, yung tumatak sa’kin is dapat respetuhin namin yung opponents namin pero hindi namin sila dapat katakutan. So, bale respetuhin na depensahan talaga namin sila,” said Elaine Etang who led her side with 19 points, seven rebounds, three assists and two steals.
The girls in blue and white also posted 19 fastbreak points, while DLSU had none as they struggled to keep up with the Lady Falcons’ pace.
Adamson now improves to a 6-3 slate, currently making them a strong contender for the tournament’s playoff phase. Even so, Monteclaro emphasized that the team is yet assured of gatecrashing into the semi-finals.
“Until hindi malagyan ng asterisk yung name ng Adamson sa Women's Division, we're still not assured of final four. So moving forward, we're just gonna take it one game at a time,” he said.
“From here on, focus kami sa gagawin namin.”
This Lady Falcons now hope to sustain the momentum of their win as they try to repeat their triumph against University of the Philippines on October 27 at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
