After a historic elimination round sweep in the UAAP Season 88 Women’s Basketball Tournament, University of Santo Tomas faced the harsh reality of championship basketball.
The Growling Tigresses, who defeated the defending champions National University Lady Bulldogs twice in the eliminations, struggled when it mattered most. They ended up dropping Game 1 of the best-of-three Finals, 84-79, on Saturday afternoon at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
The loss brought back painful memories for UST and head coach Haydee Ong, who vividly recalls a similar heartbreak in Season 87. A Finals opener defeat eventually cost them the title to the Lady Bulldogs, winners of eight of the last nine UAAP women’s basketball championships.
“We didn’t play the way that we wanted. We started flat in the whole game. We just won one quarter against NU. Sabi ko nga sa mga girls, we have to go back and try to see what we did wrong and what we did right. NU deserved the win,” Ong told Tiebreaker Times in an exclusive interview.
“Hopefully, in game two, we’ll come back stronger.”
Despite the loss, Ong praised the Growling Tigresses for their relentless effort across the full 40 minutes of a tightly contested game.
Yet, she stressed that UST must address costly mental lapses if they hope to avoid another familiar heartbreak.
(C) UAAP Season 88 Media Team
“I think yung sa effort naman nandun eh. I think yung focus and concentration during the game, as well as yung breaks na nakaka-shoot yung NU — we should have stopped those diba? I think more on mental talaga,” Ong explained.
“If I could see the stats talaga, most probably naman majority lamang kami sa stats eh. But yung intangibles that you will not see, like yung back-to-back threes ni Villanueva, we need to stop. Yun yung mga kailangan namin.”
Ong also noted that the Growling Tigresses strayed from their traditional style — the same system that fueled UST’s historic elimination round sweep.
Instead of trying to match NU in a talent showdown against stars like presumptive MVP Ann Pingol, Angel Surada, and Marga Villanueva, UST would benefit more from leaning on their identity: their schemes, spacing, and collective execution.
“We have to play our game. We didn’t play our game today. Yung pace namin, sumabay kami sa NU diba? So we really want to stick to the system, play with pace, and hopefully come back stronger in game two,” the 55-year-old mentor shared.
Looking ahead to the do-or-die Game 2 on Wednesday, December 10, at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay, Ong hopes the Growling Tigresses adopt an underdog mindset. The goal: send seniors Kent Pastrana and Eka Soriano off on a high note while reclaiming the crown they lost in Season 87.
“For me kasi, hindi eh. I always tell them to have an underdog mindset. Hopefully yung mental side ng mga bata, ma-correct namin sa Wednesday,” said the decorated mentor.
“Of course, malungkot pero sabi ko nga, I trust in all of them that we will bounce back on Wednesday.”
#WATCH: Coach Haydee Ong wants UST to be mentally tougher come Game 2 of the #UAAPSeason88 Women’s Basketball Finals 🐯🏀#ReadMore 👉 https://t.co/D0WrSwZQ8F
📹 @lorenzodelc /Tiebreaker Times pic.twitter.com/8ySGwKnVU4
— Tiebreaker Times (@tiebreakertimes) December 6, 2025
