Tigresses parry Maroons late to win 4th straight game in UAAP women's hoops

ANTIPOLO — The UST Growling Tigresses ended their first round campaign in the UAAP Season 85 women's basketball tournament on a high with a 82-61 drubbing of the UP Fighting Maroons at the Ynares Center here on Saturday.

The Tigresses leaned on the scoring of Tacky Tacatac and a resurgent game from Nikki Villasin to tally their fourth straight victory and finish the first round in solo second with a 6-1 slate.

UST rushed out of the gates early as they jumped on the Maroons to a 19-point lead in the first salvo. But a pesky UP side, led by Kaye Pesquera, wouldn't go away as they slowly trimmed the lead with aggressive offense inside the point.

Their plan of attack under the basket led to foul trouble for the Tigresses and sent them to the line often.

In the third salvo, UP saw themselves within six, 43-49, after a Stifanny Larrosa triple.

But a timely scoring run led by Villasin helped the Tigresses pull away anew.

By the fourth quarter, Eka Soriano scored on a fast break to extend the lead to the UST's biggest advantage at 21, 82-61, with 42 ticks left on the clock.

UST head coach Haydee Ong praised her wards for coming out victorious.

"It's all because of the hard work of the ladies, of course, working together, relentless defense all throughout the first round. I think that brought us to where we are now in the standings, having 6-1." she said.

Tacatac finished with 19 points, 17 of which she scored in the first half, to go along with nine rebounds, five assists and two steals.

Villasin, meanwhile, played her best game for UST with 16 markers, eight rebounds, three steals and two steals.

UP, who end the first round at 3-4, leaned on Pesquera with 18 points. Larrosa added 13 points as they were the only two players for UP in twin-digit scoring.

The Scores:

UST 82 — Tacatac 19, Villasin 16, Soriano 15, Santos 10, Pangilinan 7, Bron 5, Ambos 4, Villapando 4, Dionisio 2, Serrano 0, Araza 0.
UP 61 — Pesquera 18, Larrosa 13, Bariquit 8, Tapawan 8, Domingo 5, Maw 3, Lozada 2, Sanchez 2, Gonzales 2, Jimenez 0, Rivera 0, Vingno 0, Sauz 0.

Quarters: 28-13, 43-28, 62-49, 82-61.