FEU aims to better its final placement in the tournament from last season and play spoiler to other Final Four contenders in the process.
The FEU Lady Tamaraws have settled themselves on meek goals as a Final Four spot looks dim at the final stretch of eliminations in UAAP Season 87.
At 3-7 with four games left for the season, FEU now wants to make sure to finish ahead of where the team was at the end of the year in Season 86. During their campaign in 2023, the Lady Tamaraws were in 7th place with a 3-11 slate.
Having matched their win total last year, MJ Manguiat said that they want to get themselves higher this time around.
“Ang magiging goal na lang po namin is i-compare po last season, nasa 7th place po kami so ang goal po namin is mas maitaas pa po namin yung standing namin,” she said after their 57-51 win over UE on Sunday, November 3.
Manguiat finished with a game-high 22 points to go along with five rebounds, one assist, and two steals in the victory.
Talking about what it takes to achieve the goal, FEU head coach Raiza Palmera-Dy said that they should be able to contain La Salle’s Luisa San Juan in their next game — especially since she previously set a UAAP record of 10 threes against them in the opening round.
Hungry for a bounce back win against the Lady Archers, Palmera-Dy is eager to see which of her players will step up.
“Of course, yun nga, kailangan namin revenge talaga ang mangyayari, especially we all know that against us in the first round nagkaroon ng record si San Juan. So we need to address that and at the same time as a team, kailangan yung mga this kind of scenarios,” Palmera-Dy said, of ekeing out the close victory over the Lady Warriors.
“Actually, sabi ko naman sa kanila kahit during practices, talagang alam nila yan — whoever is willing to fight for the team, yun yung gagamitin natin and yun yung maglalaro inside the court. Etong mga crucial moments na to, eto yung mga kailangan namin na may nagsstep up talaga,” she added.
FEU meets La Salle on Wednesday, November 6, at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.