Growling Tigresses bow to FEU, end campaign at fourth place

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Sept. 21, 2014, 5:17 p.m. – THE UST Growling Tigresses capped a season of close defeats with
another one against the Far Eastern University Lady Tamaraws, 61-62, in the
step-ladder semifinals of the UAAP Season 77 women’s basketball tournament at
the MOA Arena, Sunday.

The Tigresses are eliminated from the
Final Four, while FEU will advance to the next round of the semifinals to face
defending champion De La Salle University, which is armed with a twice-to-beat
advantage.

UST built a 10-point lead, 58-48, with
7:17 left in the game, but it was downhill for the Growling Tigresses from that
point on.

The Lady Tamaraws unleashed a 13-2 run
capped by a Claire Castro basket to take a 61-60 lead with 54.9 seconds
remaining in the fourth quarter.

Lore Rivera and Lorraine Venture split
their charities that gave FEU a 62-61 lead, but the Tigresses could not come up
with a winning play in the last 3.8 seconds, allowing the Lady Tamaraws to
escape with a comeback victory.

UST’s one-two punch of Rivera and Maica
Cortes both posted double-double games for the Growling Tigresses.

Rivera finished with 23 points and 14 boards, while Cortes added 16
markers and 23 rebounds.

“Lore Rivera started cramping up that is why we had to limit her minutes and give her rest. We turned the ball over on consecutive possessions,” UST head coach Chris Cantonjos said. “We also had two of our players confined in the hospital this week and we cancelled practice because of the typhoon but that is not an excuse.”

Despite falling short of the finals again this year, Cantonjos is proud of what the Tigresses achieved beginning from the pre-season.

“We are humbled with what happened, I told the players after the game that I am still proud knowing we gave everything we got,” he added. “We had high expectations this season after winning two titles from four finals in the summer but we understand that you have to be tough in the UAAP.”

The Growling Tigresses suffered from a similar bitter Final Four defeat last season against La Salle. They last won the championship in 2006. Paul Kennedy A. Lintag with reports from Josiah Darren G. Saynes

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