Women’s caging: La Salle knocks off Adamson, arranges Finals date with FEU

MANILA, Philippines—Aracelie Abaca flirted with a triple-double as De La Salle knocked off Adamson, 81-73, Wednesday to set up a Finals clash with Far Eastern University in the UAAP Season 75 women’s basketball tournament at the FilOil Flying V Arena in San Juan.

Abaca, who finished second to the Lady Tamaraws’ Allana Lim in the MVP race, had 20 points, 18 rebounds and eight assists on top of two steals and two blocks.

The Lady Archers led by as much as 15, 70-55, before the Lady Falcons made it a game, 63-70, behind Snow Peñaranda with still 4:08 left.

La Salle, though, turned to Trisha Piatos, who responded with a clutch three that pushed their lead back to double-digits, 75-65, with 2:30 remaining.

Piatos finished with 17 points and five assists while graduating center Kady Wilson added 16 points, eight rebounds and four blocks.

The Lady Archers last made the Finals in 2002, when they clinched their fourth straight title led by the Manalo twins Jessica and Jessamine.

FEU, which swept the elimination round, holds a thrice-to-beat advantage and will look for its second straight crown on Sunday in the same venue.

Peñaranda topscored with 28 points and grabbed 10 boards while Princess Cochico contributed 14 points and 15 rebounds for the Lady Falcons, who missed the Finals for the first time since 2008.

Also, reigning juniors champion National University and FEU-Diliman begin their best-of-three Finals series on Sunday.