THE ERRATIC Tigresses absorbed their second loss in three outings, bowing to the UP Lady Maroons, 44-55, at the Philsports Arena last July 25.
Despite playing solid defense, the Tigresses didn’t take care of the ball well against the Lady Maroons, which was pretty much the story of behind the 33-56 drubbing they got in the hands of the defending champion Far Eastern University.
Against UP, the Tigresses committed 33 turnovers, which the Lady Maroons converted into 24 points.
“They had good defense but their composure was lost because they were rushing,” coach Julie Amos said. “They were still half-hearted during the game and forgot to look for mismatches.”
The first half was close with UST leading 25-23. But passing errors in the third quarter allowed UP to gain the upperhand, 36-32.
UST rookie Mary Joy Galicia and Ann Leonardo tried to keep the team within striking distance, mainly from the stripe. But back-to-back jumpers from UP nullified the charity shots.
The Tigresses committed costly errors in the fourth canto, which allowed UP to score seven points from the freethrow line.
Leonardo picked up the slack for the Tigresses with 19 markers while Galicia hauled down13 boards.
Amos said the Tigresses needed to improve on their outside shooting and going into their match against a dangerous University of the East squad on July 29.
Last July 19, the Tigresses scored their first victory by upsetting the National University Lady Bulldogs, 61-50.
Galicia’s jumper off a steal awarded her team the lead, 15-14, minutes into the second quarter. The Tigresses rode on this momentum until the third quarter, where they built a six-point buffer, 40-34.
Galicia and Juvelyn Andaya topscored for UST with 14 points apiece.
In the Tigresses’ opening game, the FEU Lady Tamaraws capitalized on a number of UST miscues, highlighted by a 10-0 run to leave the Tigresses behind at 24-34 in the third quarter.
UST’s Katrina Fermin made a jumper to start the fourth period, but FEU’s offense was just too much.
