MANILA — Defending champion University of Santo Tomas dealt National University Nazareth School its first defeat in the UAAP Season 88 High School Girls Basketball Tournament, escaping with a tense 73-71 victory at the Blue Eagle Gym in Quezon City to deny the Lady Bullpups an elimination-round sweep and set the stage for a heated Finals showdown.
Despite the absence of suspended head coach Sen Dysangco, the Junior Growling Tigresses rose to the challenge behind Ilongga Lea Pinuela, Sabel Anacan, and Pia Petalcorin in a game widely seen as a preview of the upcoming best-of-three championship series.
With the win, UST and NUNS finished the elimination round tied atop the four-team field with identical 5-1 records, heightening anticipation for their Finals clash scheduled on the opening day of the UAAP boys’ basketball championship series.
“Actually, when we found out coach Sen was suspended, everyone was ready to step in. Yung girls naman, very coachable — whoever coaches them, maglalaro naman sila. I think coming into this game, prepared naman kami,” said UST assistant coach Charlene Javier.
“This is a big confidence boost for the players coming into the finals because we got this versus NUNS. It is a very tough game, and I think it is a good experience na ganito kadikit yung laro namin. Nakita nila kung gaano kahirap yung game, and at the same time, the girls are always ready, and this will give a lot of confidence come the finals,” she added.
UST appeared poised for a convincing victory after building a commanding 17-point lead, 54-37, midway through the third quarter behind a Riri Perez layup and a six-point burst from Anacan that included an and-one conversion and a three-pointer.
However, the Lady Bullpups mounted a fierce comeback in the fourth quarter, unleashing a 12-2 run highlighted by a Zaydhen Rosano floater and an Aubrey Lapasaran triple to cut the deficit to four, 63-59, with 4:37 remaining.
The Growling Tigresses kept their composure down the stretch as clutch baskets from Anacan, Petalcorin, Pinuela, and Sandra Abrantes preserved the lead, surviving late three-pointers from Rosano that trimmed the margin to 73-71 with 21.3 seconds left.
Pinuela paced UST with 17 points, five rebounds, four assists, and four steals, while Anacan also tallied 17 points along with seven rebounds, two assists, and one steal.
Petalcorin contributed 14 points on 6-of-11 shooting, while Perez struggled offensively with nine points on 3-of-13 shooting but still delivered eight rebounds, three assists, two steals, and two blocks.
For NUNS, Rosano led the charge with 21 points, eight assists, six rebounds, and six steals, while Lapasaran added 20 points, six rebounds, two assists, and one steal.
Zane Singson narrowly missed a double-double with nine points and 10 rebounds to go with two steals and one assist, while Ruiza Olmos and Bri Katigbak chipped in six and five points, respectively./PN
