The strong start of the University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigresses to the UAAP Season 80 Women’s Basketball Tournament continues with a 75-66 win against the Adamson University Lady Falcons, today at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.
It was a revenge game of sorts for the Growling Tigresses, since the Lady Falcons had eliminated them last season in the playoff game for the last Final Four ticket. Jhenn Angeles fired 22 points, while Sai Larosa produced 16 points and 17 rebounds for UST. Lon Rivera also made 11 points for the Growling Tigresses.
“I’m not happy with our game,” lamented UST coach Haydee Ong. “Again my problem is yung yung mga poste ko that’s why medyo nag-sermon ako sa dugout because Wednesday we’re going against NU. We know naman they have like 50 wins na that’s why sabi ko sa kanila everybody should work. Hindi pwede si Larosa at si Angeles ang sasalba nanaman sa amin.”
After a 34-30 lead at halftime, UST got their biggest lead of the ballgame at 51-39 in the 1:58 mark of the third quarter via Larosa’s two charities, which capped off a 17-9 rampage. The Growling Tigresses then closed the period with a 54-44 edge away from the Lady Falcons.
Early in the fourth quarter, the Lady Falcons retaliated with an 11-5 run ignited by Kristeena Camacho’s free throws to cut the deficit to 55-59.
Unfortunately for Adamson, they failed to break that four-point barrier. UST immediately composed themselves and seized a 70-63 cushion at the back of Larosa’s basket with just 1:21 to go. Adamson’s Nathalia Prado trimmed the lead to just 65-70 with over a minute left but the España school still had control.
With only 44.4 seconds left, Angeles sealed the W with a jumper to make it 75-65. The Growling Tigresses eventually prevailed 75-66 against the Lady Falcons to clinch their second win of the tourney.
Fastbreak points won the game for UST, as they had 28 compared to Adamson’s 13. “That’s The one thing that I appreciate today. We had a lot of fastbreak points and we would like to do that against NU to run para yung setup ng mga post nila, hindi kami mahirapan, walang last line of defense yung NU. We’ll try to push the ball faster on Wednesday again.”
Jamie Alcoy, Camacho, and Prado had 14, 13 and 11 points respectively for Adamson. Nikka Villanueva also contributed eight points and 11 rebounds for the Lady Falcons cause.
Both schools will play next on September 20 at the SM Mall of Asia Arena. UST (2-0) are scheduled to play defending champions National University at 10:00 AM, while Adamson (0-2) will take on the De La Salle University earlier at 8:00 AM.
The Scores:
UST 75 – Angeles 22, Larosa 16, Rivera 11, Anies 8, Isanan 8, Capilit 6, Penaflor 4, Gandala, Aujero, Jerez, Sanggalang.
AdU 66 – Alcoy 14, Camacho 13, Prado 11, Villanueva 8, Lacson 7, Araja 6, Rosario 4, Cacho 2, Cabug 1, Razalo 0, Aciro 0 Tacitac 0.
Quarterscores: 11-12, 34-30, 54-44, 75-66.
