As the saying goes, it’s always harder being the hunted than the hunter.
The University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigresses are certainly feeling the pressure as they continue to defend their title in the UAAP Season 87 Collegiate Women’s Basketball Tournament.
UST suffered a 75-69 loss at the hands of their rivals, the National University (NU) Lady Bulldogs, on September 21.
They then bounced back with a 76-68 victory against De La Salle University the next weekend at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
However, the win did not come easy.
The Tigresses had to overcome another slow start, allowing La Salle to build a 10-point lead early in the game.
UST head coach Haydee Ong found the team’s poor performance a source of frustration, even in victory.
“I’m not happy with the win,” Ong said bluntly. “We had a lot of turnovers, and some of my players didn’t show up today. It’s good that Karylle (Sierba) and Kent (Pastrana) made up for those points na yung mga unforced errors namin that we should have gotten easy baskets from.
“More than 10 points yun na easy baskets. I hope we don’t duplicate this performance in the last two games of the first round.”
(C) UAAP Season 87 Media Team
La Salle seemed poised to pull off an upset, but UST took control in the fourth quarter with a decisive 11-0 run, giving them a 67-53 cushion with just over eight minutes left.
That run effectively sealed the win for the Growling Tigresses, despite the rocky start.
Still, the 27 turnovers committed by UST were a glaring issue. Although the Lady Archers failed to fully capitalize on these mistakes, such carelessness could haunt the defending champions – especially in future games against formidable opponents like the Lady Bulldogs.
“Yung kailangan namin siguro i-improve ay yung turnovers talaga namin,” said Pastrana, who led UST with 21 points, 10 rebounds, and four steals against her former team.
“Kailangan namin bawasan yung turnovers at i-improve yung decision-making namin sa loob ng court. Maging mature talaga kung paano gamitin yung sistema ng mga coaches.”
Reflecting on their recent struggles, Pastrana emphasized the importance of learning from their mistakes.
“Siguro sa nangyari sa amin sa past two games, madami din kaming natutunan [na] ine-ensayo namin araw-araw kasi mahaba naman ang preparation namin. Nakikinig kami sa coaches kung ano yung dapat namin i-adjust and sa mga bata na ginagabayan namin.”
Despite the areas that need improvement, there were still bright spots in UST’s game against La Salle, most notably the performance of homegrown rookie Karylle Sierba.
The 19-year-old contributed 16 points, six rebounds, and three assists, earning praise from Ong for her scoring efforts.
Ong jokingly remarked that Sierba shot the ball as if she were 6-foot-2 rather than her actual height of 5-foot-2. Still, the young player chose to focus on her areas for growth rather than bask in the compliments.
(C) UAAP Season 87 Media Team
“Siguro po, meron pa akong kailangan i-adjust. Di naman madali makipagsabayan,” Sierba said humbly.
“Sabi ni Ate Kent, yung mga advice po niya sa aming mga bata, bigyan namin ng kumpiyansa ang mga sarili namin.”
While UST is clearly a team with championship potential, their recent performances suggest that there’s still work to be done.
With two games left in the first round, the Growling Tigresses will need to iron out their issues if they hope to maintain their position as the team to beat.
