UAAP
UP’s third quarter rally falls short, succumbs to defending champs UST
University of the Philippines’ run in the third quarter was not enough to stop the University of Santo Tomas’ shooting spree in the fourth quarter, falling prey, 60-84, in the UAAP women’s basketball tournament, Wednesday, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Cubao, Quezon City.
With UP missing a scorer in Camille Nolasco for the second consecutive game due to an ankle sprain, they found themselves down 27-44 at halftime, with UST rookie Karylle Sierba and Tacky Tacatac scoring off of UP’s turnovers, and Kent Pastrana leading UST’s defensive charge, while also keeping her offense steady, making three of six triples.
The third quarter saw the Fighting Maroons capitalizing on the Tigresses’ foul trouble as they slowly mounted a comeback, going on a 24-11 run and cutting the Tigresses’ lead to as little as four, 51-54. Both teams exchanged buckets, with Kaye Pesquera and Louna Ozar giving the Fighting Maroons a 53-59 chance coming into the fourth quarter.
However, the defending champions broke UP’s momentum, going on a Pastrana-led shooting spree. UST also shut down UP’s attempts to shoot, limiting their scoring to just seven compared to the Tigresses’ 25 in the final frame. UST achieved their biggest lead of the match at 26 points at 84-58, with a minute and a half left in the final frame.
UST made 13 of their 33 three-point shots, compared to UP’s seven of 18, scoring 31 points off turnovers to UP’s six.
Despite not being able to score in the fourth quarter, Pesquera led the Fighting Maroons with 20 points five rebounds, three assists, and two steals.
Ozar contributed 14 points, 10 rebounds, and four assists, while Christie Bariquit also chipped in 14 points.
UST, on the other hand, was led by Pastrana’s 21 points, nine rebounds, four assists, and two steals, Tacatac’s 20 points, making six of ten three-point attempts, and two rebounds, scoring 14 of those in the final frame, and Sierba’s 11 six rebounds, three assists, and two steals.
With this loss, the UP Fighting Maroons stay on the fifth spot at 2-4. They will set out to snap their two-game losing skid against the DLSU Green Archers (1-5) next on Sunday, 1:30 PM, at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
The UST Growling Tigresses, on the other hand, takes solo second at 5-1 and will next face the FEU Lady Tamaraws on Saturday at 4:30 PM also at the MOA Arena.
The Scores
UST (84) – Pastrana 21, Tacatac 20, Sierba 11, Relliquette 6, Soriano 5, Santos 4, Maglupay 4, Ambos 4, Pineda 3, Dionisio 2, Bron 2, N. Danganan 2, Pescador 0, Amalong 0, Serrano 0, Lopez 0.
UP (60) – Pesquera 20, Ozar 14, Bariquit 14, Maw 4, Tapawan 3, Barba 3, Jimenez 2, Sauz 0, Vingno 0, Solitario 0, Quinquinio 0, Lozada 0.
Quarter scores: 26-16, 44-27, 59-53, 84-60.