University of Santo Tomas sent University of the Philippines to the brink of elimination in the UAAP Season 85 Women’s Basketball Tournament after taking a dominant 85-52 wire-to-wire victory, Wednesday at the Quadricentennial Pavillion in Manila.
Coming off an 87-64 loss to National University, the Growling Tigresses bounced back big, raising their slate to 10-3 — just half-a-game behind second-running De La Salle University.
“I told the ladies that we need to win our last two games and hopefully force a tie with La Salle. Yun yung goal namin at the end of the elimination round which is to finish strong,” said Growling Tigresses head coach Haydee Ong as La Salle faces National University later in the day. UST will face Far Eastern University in their final game for the round on Saturday.
Meanwhile, the Fighting Maroons’ Final Four fate is no longer in their hands after dropping to a 5-8 record. They are two-and-a-half games behind current no. 4 Ateneo de Manila University, who they will face on Saturday.
UP will hope for an Ateneo loss versus University of the East later in the day.
UST though flat-out dominated UP in this one, racing to a 22-13 start before leading 49-25 at the half. The Growling Tigresses’ lead went to as high as 37 points multiple times in the final frame.
Leading MVP candidate Eka Soriano tallied 24 points, 11 assists, nine rebounds, and five steals for UST while team captain Tacky Tacatac got 24 points built on four treys.
Rocel Dionisio and Nikki Villasin got 11 points apiece as well.
Kaye Pesquera led UP with 12 points while both Christie Bariquit and Acrissa Maw added 11 markers apiece. Maw also grabbed nine boards in the loss.
The Scores:
UST 85 – Tacatac 24, Soriano 13, Dionisio 11, Villasin 11, Santos 7, Serrano 6, Araza 5, Bron 3, Pangilinan 3, Ambos 2, Villapando 0>
UP 52 – Pesquera 12, Bariquit 11, Maw 11, Tapawan 6, Vingno 5, Sanchez 3, Larrosa 2, Lebico 2, Domingo 0, Gonzales 0, Sauz 0, Lara 0, Rivera 0.
Quarterscores: 22-13, 49-25, 67-39, 85-52.
