REFUSING TO yield the crown, the UST Growling Tigresses seized Game 2 of the finals to set up a winner-take-all showdown for the UAAP Season 87 women’s basketball title.
The defending champions pulled through in the final quarter, handing the NU Lady Bulldogs their first loss since last season’s finals, 78-68, on Wednesday, Dec. 11, at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Tigress point guard Brigette Santos delivered a stellar performance, pouring in a career-high 27 points on 11-of-21 shooting to keep her team’s title defense alive.
“As long as we work together, believe in ourselves and prepare properly in training… Thankfully, it all paid off,” Santos said postgame.
Kicking off the match, UST blasted an early 15-5 lead capped off by a trey from Mythical Five member Kent Pastrana. Taking advantage of NU’s sluggish start, Santos closed out the opening period with a triple, 20-9.
The Lady Bulldogs then established momentum in the second salvo as they surged to an 11-4 blitz sparked by Rookie of the Year Cielo Pagdulangan’s fastbreak basket, trimming the deficit to 24-20.
The Jhocson-based squad continued to rack up some points but UST forward Agatha Bron converted a follow-up to maintain a seven-point lead at halftime, 32-25.
It was a near repeat of Game 1’s second-half collapse for UST, allowing NU to level the score at 39-all courtesy of an and-1 play from forward Angel Surada.
With momentum swinging fully in the Lady Bulldogs’ favor, Pagdulagan delivered a go-ahead bucket to close the third canto ahead, 49-48.
As nerves set in during the fourth quarter, UST’s dynamic guard duo of Karylle Sierba and Santos stepped up to drive a 60-57 lead over NU.
In the waning minutes of the game, NU veteran Camille Clarin drilled three triples in a desperate bid to keep the game within reach, 68-76. However, Sierba calmly sank her freebies to seal the victory.
Adding to the output of Santos, Sierba contributed 18 points, 15 of which came in the last 10 minutes. Pastrana added 11 markers.
For NU, four players reached double digits. Pagdulagan led the way with 16 points, while Clarin finished with 12. Karl Pingol and Surada chipped in 11 and 10 points, respectively.
“If we have any mistakes, we hope to correct them on Sunday so we can show an even better performance,” Sierba said postgame as her team will try to retain the crown in Game 3 of the finals at the SMART Araneta Coliseum on Sunday, Dec. 15. F
