MANILA – Far Eastern University (FEU) banked on Victoria Pasilang’s go-ahead jumper to beat Adamson University, 50-48, in the UAAP Season 89 women’s basketball at the Ateneo Blue Eagle Gym in Quezon City on Saturday.
Pasilang delivered 18 points, seven rebounds, and three steals as the Lady Tamaraws ended the first-round elimination in a tie with the Lady Falcons at 4-3.
Adamson rallied in the second half, moving to within 43-35 on Angeline Alaba’s triple at the end of the third quarter and tying the score at 48-all going into the final minute.
Pasilang, who had 14 points in the first half, came to the rescue after Elaine Patio missed a pull-up jumper and scored the basket that put FEU ahead, 50-48, with 7.8 seconds remaining.
Adamson tried to force an overtime, but Elaine Etang failed to score on a layup.
“‘Yung ginawa ko, tine-training namin yan. ‘Yun ‘yung sinasabi ni Coach Raiza (Palmera-Dy) na ‘Kung anong gagawin mo sa practice, magagawa mo sa team.’ Kaya nagawa namin yung mga bagay na tulad ng putback (What I did is something we train for. It’s what Coach Raiza always says: ‘Whatever you do in practice, you’ll be able to do for the team.’ That’s why we were able to execute plays like putbacks),” Pasilang said.
Patio, who had six rebounds, contributed 15 points, including a free throw that gave FEU its biggest lead, 34-19, at halftime.
“Nothing about the last shot. It’s a collective effort; from the first quarter, second quarter, third, and then fourth, we worked hard for it. Actually, we had a 15-point lead going into the second half,” FEU head coach Raiza Palmera-Dy said.
“Medyo nag-relax kami and ‘yun ‘yung kailangan kong i-instill sa mga bata na we cannot afford to do that. We were up pero kailangan 0-0 ang mindset pagdating ng second half (We relaxed a bit, and that’s what I need to instill in the players – that we can’t afford to do that. We were ahead, but we needed to have a 0-0 mindset heading into the second half).”
Cheska Apag and Etang led Adamson with 11 points each, followed by Alaba and Trix Burgos, who scored seven points apiece.
Meanwhile, FEU will face National University at 10 a.m., while Adamson will meet Ateneo de Manila University at the Araneta Coliseum at 12 p.m. on Oct. 31.
