Madrid leads Lady Blazers past Tams

MANILA, Philippines - Tin Madrid hit one of two charities at endgame as St. Benilde shocked defending champion Far Eastern U, 74-73, in the opening of the second Dickies-FCBL (Filipino-Chinese Basketball League) Women’s Cup at the Philippine Buddhacare Academy gym in Quezon City last weekend.

The Lady Blazers buried 11 triples, including four by Ailien Bernadez, but it was Madrid’s lone charity in the dying seconds that helped them stun the back-to-back UAAP champions.

Pouncing on the absence of back-to-back MVP winner Allana Lim, Soc Borja and Karen Columna, who have graduated, the Lady Blazers seized control early and led by as many as 16 points early in the third period.

But the Lady Tams rallied to grab a 73-70 lead with only 11 seconds remaining in the contest.

But St. Benilde’s Jennifer Imayol hit a surprise triple to tie the game with three seconds left. 

Madrid then came through with a steal off an inbound by FEU then split her charities to seal the victory in the event presented by Dickies and backed by Smart Telecom, Powerhouse, CW Home Depot, Jumbo Plastic Linoleum and Hapee Toothpaste.

Madrid went on to finish with 13 points and had seven boards, four steals and an assist to emerge as the Dickies Player of the Game.

Also getting off to a fine start was former UAAP champion Adamson which outlasted Centro Escolar Universty, 87-77, thanks to the 21-point performance of Mary Penaranda.