NU weathers Tigresses late storm, ends UST’s two-game streak
By Ernest Martin Tuazon
The UST Growling Tigresses (2–1) absorbed its first loss in the UAAP Season 85 women’s basketball tournament after their late rally against the undefeated NU Lady Bulldogs (3–0) fell short, 78–75, Sunday morning, at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
The Lady Bulldogs have now extended their winning ways to 99 games, with its last loss being on Oct. 5, 2013, against the DLSU Lady Archers.
All hope looked lost as Angelica Surada scored in the paint to extend the NU lead to 11, but the Tigresses unleashed a 13–5 run, beginning with Eka Soriano’s three attempts at the charity stripe to cut the deficit to six with 30 seconds left in the game, 73–67.
Tigresses guard Nikki Villasin nailed a much-needed triple to keep the game within striking distance, 74–70.
Soriano zoomed to the rim to make it a single-possession ballgame, 75–72, while Tacky Tacatac, after missing two three-point attempts in the salvo, continued the UST rally as she sunk a clutch long bomb to trim the lead to two, 77–75.
However, the valiant efforts of the University were wiped out as Joylyn Pangilinan missed a half-court attempt in hopes to send the game to overtime, 78–75.
What separated the two Sampaloc schools in the match was a poor first-salvo start from the Tigresses which saw them trail by 11, 22–11. In all the latter quarters, UST outscored the Lady Bulldogs, 18–17, 20–19, and 26–20, respectively.
Moreover, an error-plagued first half saw the Tigresses commit 16 turnovers which NU took advantage of, being able to bank 20 points off UST’s errors.
Soriano flirted with a triple-double with 18 markers, nine boards, and nine assists, to go along with three steals.
Tacatac duplicated Soriano’s load, being able to notch 18 points, while Pangilinan scored 12 markers of her own.
The Tigresses look to rebound from a narrow defeat with a match-up against the Ateneo Blue Eagles on Wednesday, 1:00 PM, at the UST Quadricentennial Pavilion.
The Scores:
NU (78) — Pingol 14, Clarin 13, Surada 11, Canuto 9, Cacho 8, Betanio 8, Cayabyab 5, Tiky 4, Fabruada 2, Bartolo 2, Villareal 2.
UST (75) — Soriano 18, Tacatac 18, Pangilinan 12, Villasin 7, Dionisio 6, Ambos 6, Bron 5, Santos 2, Villapando 1.
Quarter Scores: 22–11, 39–29, 58–49, 78–75.
