10 September 2014, 3:51 p.m. – THE UST
Growling Tigresses recovered from another fourth-quarter meltdown and hacked
out a 73-68 victory over a pesky Far Eastern University in the second round of
the UAAP Season 77 women’s basketball tournament at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum,
Wednesday.
UST squandered a 23-point lead but somehow found a way to fend off
the Lady Tamaraws despite sinking only two field goals in the payoff period.
The Tigresses improved to a 7-6 record to put themselves in a
position to qualify for the Final Four.
After struggling from the field in the final period, the Tigresses
relied on freethrows, sinking nine out of 12 attempts in the last 10 minutes.
The Tamaraws tried to come back
after an and-one play from Claire Castro in the last six seconds, 71-68.
But the Tigresses held their ground on the defensive end as Kim
Reyes and Jen Angeles put the finishing touches of the game from the charity
stripe.
“I have to give it to the players kasi talagang nag-trabaho
sila,” UST head coach Chris Cantonjos said. “Lahat naging maganda
‘yung output sa game.”
UST gave the Lady Tamaraws a beating in the first half and led by
as much as 23 points courtesy of an aggressive start before FEU climbed back in
the second half.
Lore Rivera led the Tigresses with another double-double
performance with 21 points and 12 rebounds while Maica Cortes and Bettina
Penaflor had nine points each.
The UST Tigresses play at home court when they face the Adamson
Lady Falcons in a crucial game to round up the elimination round on Saturday,
September 13, at the Quadricentennial Pavillion.
“Hopefully,
‘yung UST community at family nandoon para sumuporta sa next game namin,”
Cantonjos said. Josiah Darren G. Saynes
