Tigresses throttle UP

c/o UAAP

UAAP Season 87 Collegiate Women’s Basketball Standings

NU 8-0

UST 7-1

AdU 5-3

Ateneo 4-4

UP 3-5

DLSU 2-6

FEU 2-6

UE 1-7

Games on Wednesday at the SM Mall of Asia Arena

10 a.m. – FEU-D vs UST (JHS)

12 noon – UE vs DLSZ (JHS)

4 p.m. – NU vs FEU (Men)

6 p.m. – DLSU vs UST (Men)

University of Santo Tomas left University of the Philippines in the dust with a huge second half to secure a 84-57 win in the UAAP Season 87 Collegiate Women’s Basketball Tournament, Sunday afternoon at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. 

With their fourth straight win, the Growling Tigresses upped their record to 7-1 to remain a game behind the league-leading National University Lady Bulldogs at 8-0. 

“I just told the girls that at the start of the second round we want to be better, we want to be more consistent, we want to be stronger, and the girls did it. First half was a seesaw battle from UP, sabi ko lang sa dugout tayo naman sa second half,” said UST head coach Haydee Ong. 

UP was still keeping in pace with UST midway through the third quarter, down 44-49, but the Tigresses decided to make it rain from outside from thereon that broke the game wide open. 

Karylle Sierba and Kent Pastrana fired three straight three-pointers while Tacky Tacatac also added a layup to put UST on top by 14 entering the fourth period, 60-46. 

Louna Ozar gave the Fighting Maroons some hope to open the fourth, burying four straight points to inch within 50-60 but that was short lived as the Growling Tigresses responded with a mammoth 17-2 blitz to erect a 77-52 cushion with 5:08 to go. 

This victory was cut from the same cloth in the Growling Tigresses’ 84-60 victory over the Fighting Maroons in the first round, where they decisively iced the game with a monster fourth frame. They held UP to 19 points in the second half this time around while scoring 43. 

“Sinabihan lang kami ni coach sa dugout na kailangan namin magfocus sa defense kasi useless ang score namin kasi pinapascore din namin ang kalaban kaya di kami nakakalayo. Buti nung second half nastop namin yung UP,” said Tacatac, who finished with a game-high 23 points.

UST fired 12 three-pointers, with Tacatac and Sierba going 5-of-7 shooting from beyond the arc. 

Sierba tallied 15 points, all of which she made from deep, while Pastrana had 11 points and five rebounds. 

CJ Maglupay continued to perform well for the Growling Tigresses with 10 points and 11 rebounds, while Brigette Santos had a well-rounded game of eight points, seven assists, and six steals. 

They also forced UP to commit 32 turnovers, turning those to 38 easy points. 

UST will shoot for a home win on Saturday when it hosts Ateneo at the school’s Quadricentennial Pavilion at 10 a.m. 

The loss pushed UP down to 3-5, staying a game below fourth-running Ateneo de Manila University at 4-4. 

Ozar once again led the Fighting Maroons with 15 points and seven rebounds but committed seven turnovers as well in the defeat that only had them leading once at 2-0. 

UP aims to rebound on Sunday but it would be a tall task, facing NU on Sunday, also at the UST gym. 

The Scores:

UST 84 - Tacatac 23, Sierba 15, Pastrana 11, Maglupay 10, Santos 8, Ambos 6, Soriano 5, Reliquette 4, Pineda 2, Bron 0, Pescador 0, Danganan 0, Serrano 0, Lopez 0, Amatong 0. 

UP 57 - Ozar 15, Pesquera 10, Bariquit 8, Sauz 6, Maw 6, Tapawan 5, Lozada 5, Mendoza 2, Jimenez 0, Barba 0, Vingno 0, Solitario 0, Nolasco 0. 

Quarterscores: 22-16, 41-38, 60-46, 84-57.