The Danganan twins took over in the second half as University of Santo Tomas dealt Adamson University its first loss, 73-68, to take Game One of the UAAP Season 82 Girls’ Basketball Finals, Friday at the Filoil Flying V Centre.
Down 44-42 midway through the third period, Erika and Nicole sparked a 19-6 blast. The twins scored 12 in the run to establish a double-digit margin, 61-50, with 8:31 left in the fourth quarter.
“Credit sa players kasi nagawa nila ‘yung game plan namin, saka ‘yung puso nila ngayon kakaiba. Nandoon pa rin kahit humahabol na ang kalaban,” said UST coach Ford Grajales.
Erika led the Junior Growling Tigresses with 19 points, 12 in the second half, alongside nine boards, four steals, one block, and an assist. Meanwhile, Nicole had 10 points, all in the second half, with seven assists, four rebounds, and two steals.
Chille Serrano also chipped in 10 markers on a perfect 4-of-4 clip, on top of nine boards.
However, UST might miss leading scorer Erika in Game Two. She sprained her left ankle after landing on the foot of a Baby Lady Falcon at the 2:02 mark of the payoff period.
Down by 13 with 2:10 left on the clock, Adamson ended the game with eight unanswered points, but it was too little, too late.
On the other hand, Joan Camagong paced the Baby Lady Falcons with 24 points on 6-of-25 shooting. Charlene Carcallas had a double-double of 10 markers and 13 rebounds.
Coming off a 57-point outburst, Crisnalyn Padilla was held down to just 17 points in 16 shots.
“Kasama talaga sa plano namin ‘yung i-stop si Padilla. Buti nagawa ng players nai-limit siya,” Grajales shared.
Game Two is on Monday, March 9, at the same venue.
The Scores:
UST 73 – Danganan E. 19, Danganan N. 10, Serrano 10, Santos B. 8, Sison 8, Araza 7, Estudillo 5, Santos C. 4, Lacayanga 2.
AdU 68 – Camagong 24, Padilla 17, Carcallas 10, Miguel 6, Agojo 5, Roy 4, Amdad 2, Brutas 0.
Quarterscores: 17-22, 34-39, 55-48, 73-68.
