THE DEFENDING champions UST Growling Tigresses have their backs against the wall after the NU Lady Bulldogs pulled out a ferocious come-from-behind victory.
Despite leading by as much as 14 points, the Tigresses slipped up in the last minutes against the redemption-seeking Lady Bulldogs, 72-71, in Game 1 of the UAAP Season 87 women’s basketball finals on Sunday, Dec. 8, at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
NU, which committed 31 turnovers to UST’s 23, remained undefeated, taking a 1-0 advantage in the best-of-three series.
Kicking off their rematch, the Tigresses built a 7-0 run topped off by a layup from Mythical Five member Kent Pastrana to take an early 17-10 lead. UST continued to step on the gas as veteran Tacky Tacatac drained a triple to lead by 10 points at the end of the first frame, 26-16.
NU came alive in the second salvo after the duo of Angel Surada and graduating senior Camille Clarin converted baskets inside the paint to trim their deficit by five points, 29-24. The Tigresses remained aggressive in and out of the paint, closing the first half with a Tacatac drive to cap off a 12-3 blitz, 46-37.
In the third canto, the Lady Bulldogs showed composure to outscore the Tigresses, 20-11, to propel a 57-all deadlock. Reeling from a dominant third-quarter performance, NU continued to bite down on UST after Karl Pingol completed her freebies and overtook the lead for the first time in the clash, 63-62.
The España squad did not back down and responded with a 7-0 scoring barrage led by back-to-back layups from former MVP Eka Soriano, 69-65. UST forward Brigette Santos hit a basket off a spin drive as her team approached the waning minutes on top, 71-70.
However, NU’s rookie sensation Cielo Pagdulagan forced her way through to put her team in the driver’s seat with under a minute left in the game, 72-71.
With 16 seconds left in regulation, Tacatac was pinned in the left corner, where she eventually missed the potential game-winning three.
“Nothing to be ashamed of… Our last play was really made for Tacky… It was a good shot, unfortunately, we missed (but) it’s a good miss,” UST head coach Haydee Ong said postgame.
“The girls did very well and I’m very proud of them… we’ll be back stronger on Game 2,” she added.
Pastrana led the Tigresses with a 22-point outing along with six rebounds. Santos contributed 12 points in the loss.
Meanwhile, Pingol steered the Bulldogs to victory with 18 points, nine rebounds and three steals. Clarin had 12 markers and four boards.
The Tigresses will seek to stay alive and force a rubber match on Wednesday, Dec. 11, at the Mall of Asia Arena. F
