Action between La Salle and UST in the UAAP Season 87 women's basketball tournament, November 23, 2024 at the Filoil EcoOil Centre in San Juan. UAAP MediaMANILA -- Defending champion University of Santo Tomas leaned on a huge first quarter to take down De La Salle University, 70-52, for a strong end to the elimination round of the UAAP Season 87 women's basketball tournament, Saturday at the Filoil EcoOil Centre in San Juan.
The Growling Tigresses held the Lady Archers to just three points in the opening period on a measly 1-of-14 shooting from the field while scoring 20 points themselves.
The result gave the Tigresses a 12-2 record at the end of the elimination round, and a three-game winning streak heading into the step-ladder Final 4.
They will now wait for the winner between the Adamson Lady Falcons and the Ateneo Blue Eagles on the first phase of the stepladder. The stepladder survivor will play National University, which jumped straight to the Finals after completing a 14-game sweep of the eliminations.
READ: NU women complete elims sweep, barge into Finals
"We wanted to emphasize on our team defense and I'm happy na 'yung mga ginawa namin for the past week nakuha ng mga bata. They gave La Salle a hard time in the first quarter," said UST head coach Haydee Ong.
Tacky Tacatac led UST's onslaught with 14 points, all scored in the first half, while Kent Pastrana did everything with 10 points, six rebounds, and six assists.
"Nagbase talaga kami sa training namin. Coming into the Final Four, umpisa na kung ano yung trabaho namin kaya nagpukpok kami sa training, nagtulungan kami kung anong dapat itama sa defense kasi doon kami nagkukulang," said Pastrana.
Brigette Santos and Koi Danganan also added nine points apiece in the win that saw the Growling Tigresses dominate the paint, 30-14, and bench points, 33-10.
Luisa San Juan led all scorers with 15 points as La Salle ended its campaign with a 4-10 record at sixth.
Bettina Binaohan and Bernice Paraiso have played their final game in Lady Archers jersey.
The Scores:
UST 70 - Tacatac 14, Pastrana 10, Santos 9, Danganan 9, Sierba 7, Maglupay 6, Reliquette 5, Ambos 2, Amatong 2, Bron 2, Soriano 0, Pineda 0, Serrano 0, Pescador 0.
DLSU 52 - San Juan 15, Sario 9, Binaohan 8, Sunga 7, Dela Paz 6, Mendoza 3, Santos 2, Dalisay 1, Paraiso 1, Bacierto 0, Camba 0.
Quarterscores: 20-3, 39-23, 57-38, 70-52.