Basketball
Lady Tamaraws clinch UAAP women’s crown
Far Eastern University’s Lady Tamaraws accomplished what their male counterparts failed to pull off, beating the Lady Falcons of Adamson University, 68-57, in Game Three to snatch the UAAP Season 74 women’s basketball crown yesterday at the Arena in San Juan.
Raiza Palmera scattered 24 points and Allana Lim and Karen Columna had 19 and 14 markers, respectively, for the Lady Tamaraws, who topped the best-of-three series, 2-1.
It was the 10th title for the Lady Tamaraws, who yielded to the Season 73 champion Lady Falcons, 60-56, in Game One but won Game Two, 72-50, to force yesterday’s winner-take-all duel.
“Kailangang mai-protect ang karangalan ng FEU dahil natalo ‘yung men’s team namin. Kailangan lang naming makabawi dahil mas beterano at mas gutom ang mga players ko,” said FEU coach Allan Albano, whose wards finally got back at the Lady Falcons, who beat them in consecutive finals.
“Yung past two years, nasa championship kami pero we can’t make it. Ito ‘yung motivation namin to win the title and we played hard,” said team skipper Palmera, the season Most Valuable Player who shot 10-of-15 in Game Three.
Palmera, who helped the Lady Tamaraws win the crown in 2008, played her last season in the league. Lim, who also had two steals and as many assists, was named Finals MVP.
Snow Peñaranda had 16 points and 19 rebounds and Angel Ortega contributed 14 points, six boards and assists for Adamson.
The Lady Tamaraws played inspired basketball from the onset and sped to a 40-14, early in the second half, but the Lady Falcons flashed their championship poise and cut the deficit to 43-50 with 7:24 left in the game.
But there was no denying the Lady Tamaraws the victory and with nine unanswered points, posted a 59-43 advantage with only 4:22 remaining.
