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PASAY CITY -- Inching closer to Philippine basketball history, reigning three-peat queens National U got their 58th consecutive win in the UAAP women's tournament, goring La Salle apart in a 91-56 mauling Wednesday morning at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Going for the kill, the Lady Bulldogs of Patrick Aquino survive an early shootout against the Lady Archers to coast for their tenth straight win of the season.
NU virtually had the game in the bag in the first quarter, breaking an 11-all deadlock with Rhena Itesi nailing the go-ahead bucket with 5:03 left en route to a 17-2 run to end the period up by fifteen.
From then on, the Lady Bulldogs choked La Salle on the defensive end, as they limited them to less than 20 points in every period, while they break the 25-point barrier in every quarter twice in the process.
All fourteen Lady Bulldogs that were put on the floor by Aquino scored in the game, with three of them registered double digit scoring, led by Ria Nabalan who fired for 13.
Nabalan just came up a rebound and two assists shy of a triple double to cap off an all-around performance as she, along with Rhena Itesi and Jack Danielle Animan out-rebounded the Lady Archers by themselves, exposing the front court mismatch against their Taft counterparts.
The former Congo youth international collared 14 rebounds to go along with 12 markers, while Animam had 13 rebounds to go along with the 12 points off the bench.
After losing Joehanna Arciga to injury in last Sunday's setback to Ateneo, Ana Castillo carried the load for La Salle with 19 in the loss that dropped them to 2-7, sending them on the brink of missing the postseason for the first time in nine years.
The Scores
NU 91 -- Nabalan 13, Itesi 12, Animam 12, Camelo 9, Cacho 8, Layug 8, Harada 7, Ano-os 4, Del Carmen 4, Tañesa 4, Antiquiera 3, Ceño 3, Sison 2, Lopez 2
La Salle 56 -- Castillo 19, Javier 8, Torres 8, Del Campo 6, Paraiso 6, Dagdagan 3, Figueroa 2, Jimenez 2, Nuñez 2, Vergara 0
Quarter scores: 28-13, 44-24, 65-38, 91-56
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