University of Santo Tomas relied on its defense to take a wire-to-wire 76-36 win over slumping University of the East in the UAAP Season 85 Women’s Basketball Tournament, Wednesday at the Quadricentennial Pavillion in Manila.
Coming off a stinging 67-60 loss to De La Salle University last Saturday, the Growling Tigresses needed a morale-boosting victory. And it came in this contest.
However, UST head coach Haydee Ong was still not satisfied with the win as their cold streak from the field continued. The Growling Tigresses shot just 3-of-24 from deep.
“We really played badly last Saturday and we are still not satisfied with how we are playing, especially yung perimeters. We have to improve in our next game and find out why we are in a slump sa shooting namin,” said Ong.
Stepping up in the contest were two rookies in Rocel Dionisio and Rachel Ambos.
Dionisio, 20 and a product of Mataas na Paaralang JC Laya, delivered a double-double with 19 points and 15 rebounds, along with two assists, two steals, and two blocks. Meanwhile, Ambos, 19 and a product of R. Torres National High School, tallied eight steals with eight points and five rebounds.
“Hinihintay ko magsabaysabay sila. Hopefully, in this round magsabay na silang lahat,” added Ong, still waiting for the “perfect game” where the seniors and the teams rookies will explode at the same time.
Already leading 21-12 at the end of the opening stanza, UST frustrated UE in the second quarter, limiting the visitors to just 1-of-15 shooting from the field while forcing 10 turnovers to gain a 42-14 lead.
The lead went to as high as 40 points multiple times in the final frame as the Lady Warriors had 40 turnovers in the contest which led to 29 UST points.
Eka Soriano, the league’s leading MVP candidate after the first round, also got nine points, six assists, five steals, and three rebounds in just 25 minutes of action.
UST went up to 7-2 to remain in second place while UE suffered its ninth consecutive loss.
Kamba Kobe was the sole double-digit scorer for UE with 11 points to go along with nine rebounds. Minslie Paule grabbed 10 rebounds as well with eight points.
UST will next face Adamson on November 6 at 11:00 AM. On the other hand, earlier in the day, UE takes on UP.
The Scores:
UST 76 – Dionisio 19, Soriano 9, Tacatac 9, Pangilinan 8, Ambos 8, Villasin 7, Villapando 5, Santos 4, Bron 4, Serrano 2, Araza 1.
UE 36 – Kone 11, Paule 8, Nama 5, Anastacio 4, Terrinal 4, Gervacio 2, Sajol 2, Silva 0, Tinio 0, Delig 0.
Quarterscores: 21-12, 42-14, 60-25, 76-36.
