Far Eastern University (FEU) Lady Tamaraws failed to slice through the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Golden Tigresses’ defenses, 54-70 in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 87 women's basketball tournament earlier today, October 27, at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.

In a post-game interview with FEU Advocate, head coach Raiza Palmera-Dy stated that they need to improve on how they are going to handle the other team’s pressure defense.

“Probably ‘yung full court press ng ibang team, we have to focus on that because ibang bagay ‘yung napagtuunan namin ng pansin these past few weeks. Again, we will be back on the drawing board this Tuesday (We should focus on how are we going to handle the full court press of the other teams, since we focused on other aspects this past few weeks, we will be back on the drawing board this Tuesday),” the coach stated.

The first quarter started rough for the FEU Lady Tamaraws as they got their first bucket from a corner three made by Yvette Villanueva in the 7:15 mark, 3-4.

Even after the early offensive output from the white-and-gold, the green-and-gold squad fought back at the end of the first canto after a score inside the paint from forward Joann Nagma, 13-16.

At the start of the 2nd quarter, the Morayta-based squad quickly got bombarded by back-to-back UST triples leading to an 11-point deficit, 15-26.

FEU’s defensive struggles continued as Golden Tigresses made quick work of them in the paint, ballooning the lead to 17 by the end of the first half, 24-41.

It was still the same to begin the 2nd half for the Lady Tamaraws as they could not contain the Golden Tigresses’ hot hand from deep, swelling the deficit to 23, 24-47.

In addition to their offensive struggles, the Morayta-based squad also had a hard time defending the paint as the España-based squad continued to garner easy buckets.

Despite this adversity, forward Maria Pasilang gave life to the green-and-gold squad as she sank back-to-back threes, 30-49.

In spite of the early struggles in the game, the Lady Tams matched the Golden Tigresses’ energy in the last canto.

FEU’s grittiness at the last minute was not enough despite their seven-point run to end the game, 54-70.

Despite the loss, Nagma had a solid game, putting up 11 points on 5/5 shooting, while Villanueva also had a double-digit scoring game with 10 points, five rebounds and two steals.

Additionally, Coach Raiza shared that they will focus on their weaknesses for the upcoming games.

“Two weeks walang laro ‘yung mga bata, and again sabi ko, it’s not an excuse. We have to work on ‘yung nakita nating weakness or pagkukulang ng team this time. Again, we will focus on our next game which is UE [University of the East] and then sabi ko sa mga bata, one game at a time tayo (The players didn’t have a game for two weeks, and again as I said, it’s not an excuse. We have to work on our weaknesses or where the team is lacking this time. We will focus on our next game which is UE and I told my players, we’ll take it one game at a time),” coach shared.

Now at a 2-7 win-loss record, the Morayta-based squad is looking to get their third win of the season over UE next Sunday, November 3, at the University of Santo Tomas Quadricentennial Pavilion in Manila City.

-Marcus Isaac D.G Bandong

(Photo by Zedrich Xylak Madrid/FEU Advocate)