MANILA – University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigresses drew strength from Ilongga Ana Tacatac as they scored a 91-57 rout of De La Salle University Lady Archers in the UAAP Season 86 Women’s Basketball on Sunday at the UST Quadricentennial Pavilion.
The Tigbauan, Iloilo-native gunner led the Growling Tigresses with 25 points, 17 of which were scored in the first half, alongside three assists and three rebounds as they improved to 3-0 win-loss slate.
Dominant were the Growling Tigresses from start as they raced to a 24-4 start en route to a 35-12 lead. The Lady Archers showed some fight in the second frame but was not enough to cut the deficit.
Come the final frame, Eka Soriano’s three three-pointers along with baskets from Apple Maglupay, Rocel Dionisio, and Brigitte Santos provided the finishing touches for the Growling Tigresses, who led as much as 34 points by the end of the game.
“This time we started strong in the first quarter and bumaba lang nung second quarter,” said Growling Tigresses head coach Haydee Ong. “Hopefully, we’ll be consistent na every quarter manalo kami. We’ll play better.”
The Growling Tigresses’ defense proved to be too much for the Lady Archers as they forced the latter to make 30 turnovers, which gave them 32 points. UST also had 23 fastbreak points compared to La Salle’s six.
“Alam niyo naman I’m a defensive coach kaya naiinis ako kapag hindi sila dumedepensa. Hopefully, we can sustain in our next games yung depensa namin will get another win for us,” said Ong.
Santos contributed 14 points, six assists, six steals, and five rebounds, Tantoy Ferrer had 11 points and five rebounds, while reigning MVP Eka Soriano produced 11 points and three rebounds. Dionisio also scored 10 points and seized seven rebounds for UST.
Negrense Kent Pastrana, the UAAP Season 82 Rookie of the Year when she was still with DLSU, struggled for UST with just two points, three rebounds, and three steals despite averaging 24.0 points, 6.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and 2.5 steals prior to the game.
Luisa San Juan was the lone bright spot for Lady Archers with 14 points as they dropped to 0-3 win-loss record./PN
BOX SCORE:
UST 91 – Tacatac 25, Santos 14, Ferrer 11, Soriano 11, Dionisio 10, Maglupay 6, Ambos 5, Bron 4, Pastrana 2, Ly 2, Villasin 1, Daganan 0, Serrano 0, Amatong 0.
DLSU 57 – San Juan 14, Binaohan 8, Sario 8, Paraiso 7, Mendoza 6, Dela Paz 4, Dalisay 4, Bojang 4, Delos Reyes 2, Villa-cua 0, Bacierto 0.
Quarterscores: 35-12, 54-36, 70-46, 91-57.
