THE UST Growling Tigresses avenged their first-round loss to the UP Fighting Maroons with a close 74-72 victory in the UAAP Season 86 women’s basketball tournament second-round encounter at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Wednesday.
Up by one with four minutes remaining in the payoff period, 63-62, UST pulled away with an 8-0 spurt highlighted by five Kent Pastrana points and a three-point play by Tantoy Ferrer.
The Fighting Maroons responded with a 7-0 run to keep their bid alive with just over a minute remaining, 71-69.
Pastrana scored another basket and Tacky Tacatac sank one of her freebies to complete UST’s revenge win over the Fighting Maroons.
Leading by one in the second quarter, 22-21, Pastrana converted nine straight points to give UST a 10-point lead.
UP answered with an 18-9 run to cut UST’s deficit back to one at halftime, 40-39.
The game went on a 55-all deadlock at the end of the third salvo after a game-tying triple by Rachel Ambos.
The Tigresses banked on their gritty defense, collecting 21 steals and scoring 29 points off UP’s 33 turnovers.
They also outscored UP in fastbreak points, 20-8.
Pastrana exploded for 25 points on nine out of 18 shooting from the field (50 percent) to lead the Tigresses to their third straight win.
Ferrer chalked up 19 markers and grabbed nine rebounds, while Rocel Dionisio added 10 markers and eight rebounds.
Despite scoring only three points, Season 85 Most Valuable Player Eka Soriano made her presence felt, dishing out eight assists and stealing the ball seven times.
Louna Ozar paced the Fighting Maroons with 17 points, five rebounds and five assists, while Kaye Pesquera scored 12 markers.
UST improved to a 6-2 win-loss standing to share the second seed with the UP Fighting Maroons. The 7-1 NU Lady Bulldogs are the sole team atop the standings.
While they only had a few days to prepare for the second round, the Tigresses have adopted a more intensive preparation routine for their next games, UST head coach Haydee Ong said.
“I think by this time, they know what I mean when we do our scouting game preparation, what we need to do in order for us to get a win and hopefully this will be a booster for us in the rest of the second round,” Ong said postgame.
The UST Growling Tigresses will next face the DLSU Lady Archers at the same venue on Sunday, Oct. 29, at 9 a.m. Jose Gabriel V. Ignacio
