The University of Santo Tomas works its way towards getting a shot at defending its UAAP women’s basketball crown.
But there was no big celebration on the court, just a team gathering after the final buzzer and going back to the dugout after the school hymn. This is because growling tigresses know what lies ahead of them.
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Santo Tomas stopped Adamson in his tracks at the conclusion of the Stepladder Semifinals at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Wednesday and will square off against a familiar opponent in National University (NU) for the Season 87 championship, with both finalists looking for a form of redemption. Are in search.
Neither side has been able to stop the Lady Bulldogs this season, and the Tigresses are looking to repeat after erasing two losses from their record in the eliminations against National U.
For the Bulldogs, getting back to the team that ousted them last season after a seven-year reign is more than enough motivation.
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“This is a season of redemption for NU,” Santo Tomas coach Heidi Ong said. “For us, it’s going to be that we want to repeat this season, back-to-back [championship],
“We will prove ourselves to our supporters what we were capable of doing last season [was no fluke],” veteran guard Kent Pastrana said in Filipino. “We will do what we need to do and we want to do [take the gold] back to back.”
no secret weapon
Pastrana was again on the tip of the sharp Santo Tomas sword against the Falcons, finishing with a two assist to triple double after dropping 23 points with 16 rebounds.
She will be the weapon that leads the Tigresses in their repeat bid when the finals begin next week.
National U won the eliminations to book a direct spot in the title series, leaving second-place Tigresses to await the winner of the Adamson-Ateneo match in the first game of the stepladder semi-finals.
The Lady Falcons really showed their worth, even taking the lead at the half after a bad start, falling behind 21-4.
That’s why Ong was angry at the halftime break.
When Ong was asked what his interaction with his pupils was during halftime, he joked, “I scared them.” “The adjustment to what we needed to do in the second half was important and the girls were able to execute it.
“Those adjustments in the game were really important during the Final Four and especially now that we’re going into the championship,” he said. “We need to do more for NU and work harder together.”
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Undersized big CJ Maglupe had an efficient performance with 13 points on 75 percent shooting in addition to 11 rebounds and six steals for the Tigres, who also got 10 points each from Tacky Tacatac and Brigitte Santos, who had seven steals.
“We have always been Dalits and [the Bulldogs] There is always an advantage so we have to really work,” Ong said of the upcoming best-of-three series. “We need to work [hard] To defeat them.”
