Lady Falcons force Game 3 showdown

Showing the true heart of a champion, Adamson spoiled an early Ateneo celebration as it eked out a 47-46 victory yesterday to force a winner-take-all Game 3 in the 67th UAAP women’s basketball finals at the Araneta Coliseum.

First Mythical Team member Marites Gadian bucked early foul trouble, sizzling with eight of her 14 points in the fourth quarter as the Lady Falcons knotted the series at 1-all and forged a decider on Saturday at the Makati Coliseum.

"Nung una medyo nanggigil siya kaya sabi ko sa kanya, relax lang. Buti na lang nakinig," said Adamson coach and national team mainstay Emilia Vega, who steered the Marcelino-based school to the 2003 title, of the 22-year-old Villanueva, a Cagayan de Oro City native.

The Lady Eagles, who took the opener, 67-64, Thursday, had several chances of finishing off the Lady Falcons and clinching their first ever title since joining the women’s competition 17 seasons ago.

The first opportunity came when Ateneo came out of an 11-4 exchange to seize a 36-31 lead, the momentum and a chance to blow the game out of reach.

It didn’t happen.

Veteran guard Janeth Yanez rallied her team back to snatch a 39-37 fourth quarter upperhand, an advantage Cassy Tioseco erased by tying the count at 39-all.

Gadian, who sat for almost a quarter after getting saddled with four fouls early, recovered and scored all of the Lady Falcons’ last eight markers to seal the win.

Ateneo’s last stab at a win came when Tin Chua, one of the heroines in the Game 1 triumph, hit a pair of baskets to cut a five-point deficit to just a hairline, 46-47.

After Karen Lomogda muffed two charities and a fouling spree that left Ateneo coach John Flores with 3.7 seconds to operate on, Chua came out of a cut right under the basket and received an inbound pass from Cheryll Ngo but missed what could have been the game-winning shot as time expired.