University of Santo Tomas prevented an Ateneo de Manila University comeback, racking up a 63-53 victory to seal a Final Four ticket in the UAAP Season 85 Women’s Basketball Tournament, Sunday at the UST Quadricentennial Pavilion.
The Growling Tigresses, who extended their winning streak to three, raised their slate to 9-2, the same slate La Salle sports. The two join National University in the Final Four.
Down by as much as 37-23 off an Ivy Tacatac three in the 5:12 mark of the second quarter, the Blue Eagles trimmed the deficit to just 53-50 thanks to a 16-6 run capped off by a Sandra Villacruz stab with 4:39 to go in the game.
However, baskets by Rocel Dionisio, Tacatac, and Rachel Ambos gave a 60-50 cushion with 2:25 to go to hold off the Blue Eagles.
“I think given yung Ateneo’s coming back nung two last minutes nung fourth quarter and we’re not getting the right calls from the officials, yung mga bata were resilient,” said UST coach Haydee Ong.
Eka Soriano led the Growling Tigresses with 16 points, seven assists, four rebounds, and two steals while Joylyn Pangilinan contributed 11 points.
Tacatac had 10 points, six steals, and five rebounds while Chile Serrano and Rachel Ambos had 11 and 10 rebounds respectively for UST.
UST’s defense helped them clinch 14 steals compared to Ateneo’s five. The Growling Tigresses also shot 9-of-37 from the three-point line versus the Blue Eagles’ 3-of-17.
“They never gave up kahit dun sa mga possession na hindi maganda ang tawag. I guess hats off ako sa mga bata because yung mental toughness namin nung game nandun kahit yung mga post (players) ko were in foul trouble early in the game, lahat-lahat tumulong talaga for this game,” added Ong.
Ateneo fell to 5-6 behind three straight defeats. They are now tied with University of the Philippines at fourth and fifth in the standings.
The Blue Eagles were led by Junize Calago’s 10 points followed by Villacruz’s nine points.
Kacey Dela Rosa had 16 rebounds along with eight points while Jhazmin Joson contributed seven points, seven rebounds, and six assists for the Blue Eagles.
The two schools will return to action on Saturday at the same venue.
Ateneo will go up against Far Earlier University at 9:00 AM while UST shall take on National University at 11:00 AM.
The Scores:
UST (63) – Soriano 16, Pangilinan 11, Tacatac 10, Dionisio 8, Ambos 7, Santos 5, Serrano 2, Bron 2, Villasin 2, Villapando 0, Araza 0.
Ateneo (53) – Calago 10, Villacruz 9, Dela Rosa 8, Joson 7, Miranda 7, Makanjuola 5, Nieves 4, Eufemiano 3, Cruza 0.
Quarterscores: 24-17, 42-30, 51-39, 63-53.
