By Andrei M. Barrantes

After a lackluster 0-2 start in their University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 87 women’s basketball tournament campaign, the Far Eastern University (FEU) Lady Tamaraws successfully held off the University of the East (UE) Lady Warriors, 62-56, earlier today, September 18, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City. 

The win-hungry Lady Tams exerted early dominance over the Lady Warriors by making their presence felt on both sides of the floor. 

Their full-court press defense baited UE to an early penalty, and FEU team captain MJ Manguiat and Erica Joi Lopez kickstarted the offense to break the game open early.

After Manguiat went down with a mild ankle injury early into the second quarter, Morayta guard and Player of the Game Max Dela Torre took the wheel, swishing two triples to end the half with a comfortable 43-21 lead.

Green-and-gold’s tight press defense and disruptive backcourt held the red-and-white to just five points in the second canto.

Despite the free-flowing dominance at the half, FEU’s turnovers started to increase in the third frame, which also coincided with Dela Torre going down with an injury late in the fourth quarter. 

As the turnovers piled up and UE started catching a rhythm behind Lady Warrior Rachel Lacayanga’s 19 points, FEU’s lead was cut to three with less than a minute left. Lady Tamaraw Victoria Pasilang secured the victory with a timely defensive stop, 62-56.

In a post-game interview with FEU Advocate, head coach Raiza Palmera-Dy tipped her hat off to the team for executing all plays and exerting extra effort on the defensive end.

“We have to give credits to the players because nasunod naman namin ‘yung (we carefully executed our) game plan namin,” she said.

Though they escaped UE’s comeback attempts, the rookie head coach knew fully well that they need to improve late-game execution in the next matches. 

“Coming to the next games, we will address our turnovers. UE got 18 points from those turnovers, eh, so that’s something to address [in] the next game,” the Tam tactician added.

With the recent confirmation that the green-and-gold hoops squad will have to proceed without Congolese center Josee Kaputu who will sit out with an ACL tear, Coach Raiza exerted the importance of mixing and matching lineups to fill their needs depending on the situation.

“Definitely, mayro'n nang [lineups]. Nag-try tayo na mag-give (we tried to give) chance to others [players], pero we learned now na kailangan din pala nila matuto (they need to learn) how to handle ‘yung lamang namin (our leads). So again, game-by-game, we will improve,” Palmera-Dy said.

Dela Torre led the pack with 16 points and seven rebounds while Manguiat scored nine points all on three-pointers. Shane Salvani also chipped in eight markers and three steals.

The Lady Tamaraws improved to a 1-2 win-loss record and will try their fortune at evening the odds on Sunday, September 22, against University of the Philippines at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.

(Photo courtesy of Daniel Jacob/FEU Athletics)