NU wins 98th straight, UST goes 2-0 in UAAP women's hoops

MANILA, Philippines — The NU Lady Bulldogs are now two wins away from extending their historic win streak to 100 games in the UAAP after routing the Ateneo Blue Eagles, 89-52, at the UST Quadricentennial Pavilion in Espana, Manila on Wednesday.

Camille Clarin and Annick Ticky connived to lead NU to a scorching 26-9 start to blow Ateneo out of the water early.

Just days after breaking the scoring record for a UAAP women's basketball game last weekend, the Lady Bulldogs flexed their dominance anew as they led Ateneo by as much as 41 as Clarin hit back-to-back triples, 89-47, with 1:42 left in the game.

Ann Pingol paced NU with 17 points on 6-of-10 shooting as she also had four rebounds, four steals and two assists.

Clarin contributed 14 points, three rebounds, two steals, and an assist. Mikka Cacho and Tiky added 13 points apiece.

Clarin attributed the convincing victory to their hot start to break their opponent's spirits early.

"Every game is very important for us to have a strong start. Every team is gunning for us, they know what it requires to beat us. Right from the start, we have to take away their confidence," said Clarin.

In the earlier game, the UST Growling Tigresses improved to 2-0 with a 71-57 victory over the DLSU Lady Archers.

Eka Soriano exploded for 28 points, seven assists, six rebounds, and three steals to pace UST.

Soriano was hot out of the gates as he put up 15 points in the opening half as UST was up by as much as 22 points, 38-16, midway through the second salvo.

"Nag-focus lang ako sa gameplan namin nila coach," said Soriano.

NU and UST are set for a collision course in a rematch of UAAP Season 82's finals on Sunday at the Araneta Coliseum.