CALATAGAN, BATANGAS — University of Santo Tomas swept Pool A of the UAAP Season 85 Women’s 3×3 Basketball tournament. Defending champion National University and Ateneo de Manila University, on the other hand, seized the top two spots in Pool B at CaSoBe here on Wednesday.
The Growling Tigresses’ four of Eka Soriano, Tantoy Ferrer, Tacky Tacatac, and Rocel Dionisio had no problems in their opening game, a 20-6 drubbing of Adamson University, but needed to execute late in their next two matches.
Tacatac nailed clutch differential free throws against the University of the Philippines to escape, 18-14, while Ferrer drilled the game-winning putback against Far Eastern University, 21-16 (8:02).
“Yung tatlong nakalaban namin medyo mabibigat din, naramdaman din namin yung hirap. Kailangan pa namin mag start strong,” said reigning 5-on-5 MVP Soriano, who accumulated team-highs of 21 total points and 18 total rebounds for the day.
Meanwhile, the Lady Bulldogs and the Blue Eagles took care of their games against De La Salle University and University of the East heading into their clash for the top seed tomorrow at 9:15 am.
NU claimed its 24th straight win with a 17-9 triumph over the Lady Archers while getting its 25th over the Lady Warriors, 21-7, to remain unbeaten in the history of the sport in the league.
Ateneo had no problems against UE, 18-6, while needing the heroics of Kacey Dela Rosa in overtime against DLSU, 18-17.
The Lady Bulldogs are composed of Angel Surada, Tin Cayabyab, Ann Pingol, and Aloha Betanio, while joining Dela Rosa in the Blue Eagles four are Sandra Villacruz, Junize Calago, and Ylyssa Eufemiano.
“We worked as a team. No complacency pa rin, hindi kami dapat masatisfy sa pinapakita namin ngayon,” said Surada.
Well-balanced has been the attack of NU with Surada (12 points, 20 rebounds), Pingol (11 points, 11 rebounds), Betanio (eight points, 10 rebounds), and Cayabyab (seven points, 12 rebounds) all producing on Day 1.
In Pool B, UP and Adamson will look to knock each other out on Thursday for the last semifinal ticket after getting an identical 1-1 win-loss card. They both beat the Lady Tamaraws, 21-11 (9:13) and 16-15, respectively.
De La Salle’s lone win came at the expense of winless UE, 21-13 (9:12), with Luisa San Juan making the game-winning deuce.
