Tacatac tallies nine steals as UST pounds UP for playoff berth

University of Santo Tomas pulled University of the Philippines down from cloud nine with a harsh, 72-40 reality check in the UAAP Season 82 Women’s Basketball Tournament, Wednesday at the Quadricentennial Pavilion. 

Tacky Tacatac instigated the whipping, tallying 15 points and a season-high nine steals to steer the Growling Tigresses to their seventh straight win.

“Wala talagang shortcut for the program. At least ‘yung mga naiwan for the last three years, na-adopt na ‘yung sistema namin sa opensa at depensa,” said UST head coach Haydee Ong as UST has clinched a playoff spot.

The Growling Tigresses limited the Lady Maroons to three single-digit quarters — eight in the first, nine in the second, and seven in the third. UP — which is coming off its first win in three years — shot just 28-percent from the field.

“Right now, sa stretch ng second round, siguro we are sixty to seventy-percent sa goal form namin,” Ong added, as they take on National University on Saturday.

UST led by as much as 44 points in the game, 72-26, after a Tantoy Ferrer triple with 6:46 left.

Leading MVP candidate Grace Irebu only played 19 minutes in the game, finishing with 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the field with eight rebounds and two blocks. Ferrer added 10 points and nine rebounds.

Pesky Pesquera was the sole double-digit scorer for UP, finishing with 14 points and nine rebounds. However, the graduating Lady Maroon was forced to commit nine errors.

UP dropped to 1-9 in the standings.

The Scores:

UST 72 – Irebu 15, Tacatac 15, Ferrer 10, Panti 8, Rivera 8, Soriano 6, Portillo 3, Gandalla 2, Manual 2, Sangalang 2, Callangan 1, Casiano 0, Gonzales 0, Javier 0.

UP 40 – Pesquera 14, Gusilatar 9, Ordoveza 6, Rivera 4, Gonzales 2, Larrosa 2, Lucman 2, De Leon 1, Hidalgo 0, Lebico 0, Sanchez 0, Taulava 0.

Quarterscores: 18-8, 38-17, 58-24, 72-40.