The defending champion UST Growling Tigresses beat the FEU Lady Tamaraws, 88-42, to stay unbeaten in the UAAP Season 89 Women’s Basketball Tournament at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.
Fast Start for UST Snowballs to Beatdown
UST led 25-10 after the first quarter, then held FEU scoreless for nearly five minutes in the second before a Karylle Sierba layup made it 33-10. The Growling Tigresses took a 43-22 lead into halftime, kept widening the gap after the break, and outscored FEU 31-9 in the fourth quarter.
“‘Yung game plan is to stop sina Amyah [Espanol], sina [Victoria] Pasilang. And I think ‘yung individual defense and the team defense tells a lot, kasi they scored 42 points lang,” said UST head coach Haydee Ong. “We started slow nung halftime break after ng third quarter. We scored only 14 points, and then we’re not doing our pace na run-and-gun. Sinabi ko lang sa girls, ‘Go back to what we are comfortable doing.’”
Growling Dominance
Oma Onianwa led the Growling Tigresses with a double-double of 20 points and 10 rebounds, along with 2 blocks. Sierba contributed 18 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 assists, and CJ Maglupay finished the game with a season-best 12 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 steals.
No FEU player scored in double figures, with Espanol leading the Lady Tamaraws with only 9 points.
UST will next face the Ateneo Blue Eagles on Saturday, October 17, 12:00 p.m. at the Quadricentennial Pavilion in Manila. Meanwhile, FEU will next face the NU Lady Bulldogs on Sunday, October 18, 10:00 a.m. at the Blue Eagle Gym in Quezon City.
