Reigning seven-time champion National University sank its teeth on hapless De La Salle University in a 91-53 blowout for back-to-back wins in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines Season 86 women’s basketball tournament yesterday at Mall of Asia Arena.
Camille Clarin displayed her feathery touch, shooting 7-of-12 from the field to finish with 19 points in the Lady Bulldogs’ fourth win in five games.
It was total domination for NU, which started strong to build a 35-13 cushion four minutes into the second quarter and never looked back.
“Technically, it was the challenge for us today to keep the number two spot as we played this game,” Lady Bulldogs coach Aris Dimaunahan said.
“Glad that we did our job today right from the get-go. Part of the good start that we had was these two girls (Clarin and Stefanie Berbarabe) beside me. They did their job early on.”
Clarin pulled down six rebounds and had one steal while Princes Fabruada chipped in 13 points, five rebounds, three steals and two assists. Karl Pingol had 11 points, four rebounds, and three assists for NU.
Meanwhile, Adamson University ended a four-game slide to barge into the win column with a 71-41 beating of winless University of the East.
Cris Padilla tallied 11 points, three assists, and two steals, while April Tano had nine points from three triples for the Lady Falcons.
La Salle behind Luisa San Juan and Lee Sario converted consecutive three-point shots to trim the deficit to 49-40 with 5:32 remaining in the third frame but NU kept their distance and even went ahead, 91-53, with under a minute left in the game.
Sario led the now 1-4 Lady Archers with 14 points, five rebounds, and three assists. Betts Binaohan contributed 12 points, six rebounds, and three assists while foreign reinforcement Aji Bojang had 10 points and 16 rebounds but committed five turnovers.
