THE UST Growling Tigresses shook off a rusty start to outplay the Adamson Lady Falcons, 79-55, in the UAAP Season 88 women’s basketball tournament on Saturday, Oct. 18, at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
UST outscored Adamson, 48-22, in the second half to claim its sixth consecutive victory.
Sophomore guard Karylle Sierba delivered 16 points off the bench to lead UST’s offensive onslaught in the second half.
“The coaches said that Adamson had more effort than us… So we had to start on defense in order to get the win,” Sierba told The Flame.
The Tigresses got off to a shaky start defensively, as Lady Falcon Elaine Etang’s baseline jumper gave Adamson an early double-digit lead, 15-5.
Sierba converted a layup to trim her team’s deficit to end the first quarter, 22-16.
A layup from foreign student-athlete Victoria Adeshina gave Adamson a 31-23 lead midway through the second salvo.
Back-to-back threes from Gin Reliquette and team captain Kent Pastrana put the Tigresses back in the fight, entering halftime with only a two-point deficit, 33-31.
The momentum continued to swing for the Tigresses in the second half, as Sierba went on a solo 9-0 run to overtake the lead, 50-39.
More perimeter points from Pastrana and Oma Onianwa ballooned UST to its largest lead of the game entering the final quarter, 60-42.
Eka Soriano had 13 points and five steals off the bench, while Onianwa and Pastrana chipped in 13 and 10 markers, respectively.
Adeshina paced the Lady Falcons with 10 points in the losing effort.
The Tigresses will look to close the first round unscathed when they face the UP Fighting Maroons on Wednesday, Oct. 22, at the Mall of Asia Arena. F
