Maroons mount emphatic comeback against Lady Tamaraws for win streak; Lady Falcons score breakthrough

MANILA, Philippines — The UP Fighting Maroons are on a win streak in the UAAP women's basketball tournament for the first time since 2015.

This after they bested perennial Final Four contenders FEU Lady Tamaraws, 73-56, in their UAAP Season 85 first round match up at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Saturday.

Despite trailing by as much as 16 points against the Lady Tamaraws, Kaye Pesquera led a furious charge by the Maroons who ended the third salvo on a 24-3 run to gain control of the lead, 50-45, heading into the fourth salvo.

The scoring burst included an unanswered 17 points shortly after FEU veteran Camille Taguiam went down with an injury with 8:23 ticks left in the third frame.

UP pounced on a turnover-prone FEU side as they forced 28 turnovers which turned into 25 points for the Maroons.

With a finishing kick where they outscored the Lady Tamaraws, 23-11, in the fourth salvo, UP snatched the comfortable victory.

UP head coach Paul Ramos, though, is not patting his team on the back yet for what seems to be a resurgent season. Rather, he wants to take it one game at a time.

"A winning streak is far from aming winiwish, basta sa amin we're just playing each game the best that we can and hoping that we can get the win," he said after the game.

"Kung may streak, that's good. Kung wala, wala sa amin 'yun," he continued.

Pesquera finished with 22 points, three rebounds, one assist and two steals on 9-of-17 shooting to pace UP, who improves to 2-1.

Rizza Lozada added 11 markers, six rebounds, one assist, two steals and a block.

Kyla Go and Shane Cunanan led the Lady Tamaraws in the loss with 14 and 10 points, respectively.

FEU falls to 1-2 in the standings.

In the earlier game, the Adamson Lady Falcons barged into the win column with a 97-69 drubbing of the UE Lady Warriors.

Dindy Medina finished with 23 points, two rebounds, four steals, and an assist to help Adamson improve to 1-2. UE, meanwhile, is winless in three outings.

"Actually, we are happy but nothing to celebrate much, kasi it's just our first win," said FEU coach Brian Gorospe.

"We have a lot of work to do, kasi we had a tough loss, 'yung dalawang game namin. Especially 'yung UP, winnable sana siya. So, itong win na 'to, babawiin namin for next games namin. Hopefully, we get that second win against FEU," he continued.

All teams play on Wednesday next at the UST Quadricentennial Pavilion with UP and Adamson facing NU and FEU, respectively as UE clashes with La Salle next.