By MARK REY MONTEJO
Reigning champion National University ended University of Santo Tomas’ 14-game winning streak with an 84-79 win in Game 1 of their best-of-three Finals series to inch closer to retaining its UAAP crown of the Season 88 women’s basketball tournament at the Smart Araneta Coliseum Saturday, Dec. 6.
Frustrated twice by Tigers in the double-round elims, the Lady Bulldogs made sure they won’t commit the same mistakes by playing focused and razor-sharp from start to finish where they unleashed a vicious 14-9 blitz to shatter a 70-all count and pull away for good.
That NU run was orchestrated by Marga Villanueva, Angel Surada, Karl Ann Pingol, Kristine Cayabyab, and Aloha Betanio, enough to cushion UST’s last-ditch effort for its first loss since Season 87 Finals.
Both squads tangle anew in Game 2 Wednesday, Dec. 10, at Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City, with NU looking to finish off UST.
Surada, the hero in NU’s 67-66 semifinal escape over Ateneo, starred anew as she collected 19 points, seven rebounds, three assists, one block, and five steals, while Villanueva waxed hot off 17 points on 4-of-14 three-point shooting.
Cayabyab and Bonie Solis contributed nine points each, while Pingol struggled offensively with three points, two of which was part of the Lady Bulldogs’ decisive run,
On the other hand, Eka Soriano topscored for UST with 20 points along with five rebounds, two assists, and two steals, while Kent Pastrana and Karylle Sierba uncorked 15 and 14 points, respectively.
Bridgette Santos and Oma Onianwa chipped in 11 and 10 points in a losing cause as UST is on the brink of another Finals setback.
Meanwhile, NU Nazareth School flexed its might with a 79-49 annihilation of Far Eastern University-Diliman in Game 1 of their Finals clash and moved on cusp of winning the juniors crown.
David Sabareza engineered the Bullpups’ early surge to builda comfortable 47-29 lead heading into the break, a separation they preserved despite the Baby Tamaraws’ retaliation in the next two frames.
NUNS looks to close out its campaign unblemished and most importantly the best-of-three finals series against FEU-D this Wednesday, Dec. 10, at Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
Pacing NUNS was Sabareza who scored 26 of his 30 points which went with five rebounds, two assists, one block, and five steals, while Dean Tria and Ian Manalo added nine and eight points, respectively.
Prince Pineda was the lone double-digit scorer for the Baby Tamaraws off 13 points on top of nine rebounds, while Prince Cariño backstopped him with nine points.
The scores (NU-UST):
NU 84 – Surada 19, Villanueva 17, Cayabyab 11, Solis 11, Pring 9, D. Medina 6, Betanio 4, Pingol 3, Garcia 2, Alterado 2, Canindo 0.
UST 79 – Soriano 20, Pastrana 15, Sierba 14, Santos 11, Onianwa 10, Ambos 5, C. Danganan 4, Maglupay 0, Pineda 0, Pescador 0, Bron 0, Relliquette 0.
Quarters: 16-13, 42-35, 61-60, 84-79.
