Losing Lore Rivera and Kristine Siapoc during the offseason, the UST Tigresses needed to look for another persona whose leadership will rub off the entire team.
In their first two meetings so far in the UAAP Season 78 women’s basketball tournament, third year guard Candice Magdaluyo has provided the team which such attitude.
The Tigresses opened their season notching victories over last year’s finalist Far Eastern University and University of the Philippines for a share of the top spot along with National University and Adamson University at 2-0.
She says at the start of the season, she was named co-captain of the group and it has driven her to become even a better team player.
“Before the start of the season my coach told me that I will be one of the co-captains for the team. I wanted to show that I can be a leader from the beginning,” Magdaluyo said.
“So I wanted to prove I am not just (a player) off the bench, I wanted to prove I can lead the team, help myself get better and my teammates get better.”
Seldom-used the last time around, Magdaluyo is now one of UST’s premier shot creators.
In those two wins, Magdaluyo averaged 14.5 points and 5 assists to help the team. She credits her improvement to the effort she puts in practice.
“We did the extra work. Every day we train and after that we still do the hard work. Hard work pays off,” she shared.
As the Tigresses once again gun for a playoffs slot, Magdaluyo says they will be relying on the total team effort even more to succeed.
“This year we are more of a team effort. We do not have topscorers or anything; we just focus on what we do as a team. We look to pass and try to hit our teammates when they are open.”
