Bron hits go-ahead triple in thriller win against Ateneo
By Ernest Martin Tuazon
Agatha Bron and the UST Growling Tigresses (3–1) survived the late rally of the Ateneo Blue Eagles (1–3) to rebound from their first loss of the UAAP Season 85 women’s basketball tournament, 69–68, Wednesday afternoon, at the UST Quadricentennial Pavilion.
The Tigresses held a nine-point lead midway through the fourth, but Ateneo made three triples to knot the game at 64 a-piece.
Blue Eagle Jhazmin Joson sank two free throws to cap off the 16–6 rally of Ateneo to crawl back from the said deficit, but Bron nailed the go-ahead triple to give the Tigresses a three-point advantage, 69–66.
Kacey Dela Rosa then cleaned up the house for Ateneo to trim the lead to one, 69–68, then free throw woes began for both universities.
Nicki Villasin was fouled from three to possibly give UST a two-possession lead, but she missed all three free throws. Back to Ateneo’s side, Junize Calago drew a foul from Brigette Santos in hopes to complete the Eagles’ comeback, but she also missed both charities where she got the offensive board, however, she then turned the ball over.
In the first salvo, UST zoomed to an 11-point advantage, being able to hold the Blue Eagles to seven points, 18–7. However, Ateneo duplicated their first frame output in the opening minute of the second quarter, 18–14.
Ateneo completed their second quarter heist with a 25-point showing, but UST still maintained a seven-point cushion heading into the dugout, 39–32.
A low-scoring affair commenced in the third frame where they locked horns in favor of Ateneo, 14–13, but the women of Espana sat comfortably with a six-point cushion come the fourth, 52–46.
The Tigresses banked on Ateneo’s 23 turnovers, being able to bank 16 points off such errors.
However, unlike their opening day win against the Adamson Lady Falcons, UST shot 5-of-29 (17.2 percent) from three. They were also plagued by foul trouble, being able to give 12-of-25 (48 percent) charities to Ateneo, compared to their poor 4-of-10 output (40 percent).
Bron showed the way for UST with an efficient 15 points on 7-of-11 shooting (63.6 percent), to go along with eight rebounds (six offensive). Eka Soriano, Santos, and Rachel Ambos who fouled out, combined for 33 markers, being able to post 11 points a-piece.
The UST Growling Tigresses hope to maintain their winning ways as they clash against the free-falling UE Lady Warriors (0–3) on Sunday morning, 8:00 AM, at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
The Scores:
UST (69) — Bron 15, Soriano 11, Santos 11, Ambos 11, Serrano 8, Villasin 5, Pangilinan 5, Tacatac 3, Dionisio 0, Villapando 0
Ateneo (68) — Villacruz 16, Calago 14, Miranda 12, Joson 10, Dela Rosa 10, Makanjuola 3, Nieves 3, Eufemiano 0, Cruza 0.
Quarterscores: 18–7, 39–32, 52–46, 69–68.
