Brigette Santos drops 27 as UST equalizes vs NU in UAAP women's basketball finals

Brigette Santos exploded for a career-high 27 points as defending champion University of Santo Tomas bounced back in convincing style after handing National University its first loss this season, 78-68, in Game 2 of their best-of-three finals series in the UAAP Season 87 women’s basketball tournament on Wednesday at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City. 

The Growling Tigresses finally solved the puzzle against the Lady Bulldogs following three head-to-head defeats at their hands this season to drag the championship series to a decider Game 3 on Sunday. 

Brigette Santos was picture of efficiency after leading all scorers with a career-high 27 points on 10-of-17 inside shooting that she laced with two rebounds, four assists, and two steals. 

Second-year guard Karylle Sierba contributed a perfect fourth-quarter showing to finish with 18 points in only 12:23 minutes of play.

Meanwhile, three-time Mythical Team member Kent Pastrana came through with 11 points, eight rebounds, four assists, and three steals in the winning cause. 
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Santos gave UST its biggest lead of the match after a personal seven-point swing to open the second quarter, 24-9. 

However, NU regained consciousness with Cielo Pagdulagan firing her own seven consecutive points to lead the Lady Bulldogs’ 9-0 blitz midway through the second quarter which cut down their deficit to just 24-20. 
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But the Growling Tigresses protected their lead and greeted the break with a 32-25 cushion capped by Agatha Bron’s last-second layup. 
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Despite the Lady Bulldogs’ third-quarter surge that saw them take the lead at 43-39, the Growling Tigresses kept themselves at sniffing distance to avert a total collapse similar to Game 1. 
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With the game at a stalemate, UST unleashed a 9-2 run following Pastrana’s back-to-back layups with 6:10 left. 
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Camille Clarin then caught fire late in the game after three straight triples to give some semblance of life to NU as their side continued to trail with 28.7 ticks, 76-68, but by then, UST was already far ahead to be chased. 
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Sierba would ice the game from the line with a pair of freebies to seal the victory for the España squad. 
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“Very proud [of the girls] because it’s was all team effort from defense to offense. Mayroon kaming mga miscues in our defense that we adjusted. [It was also] one hell of a game from Brigette [Santos] and Karylle [Sierba]”, said UST head coach Haydee Ong. 
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“Hindi tumigil ‘yung mga bata. Naniwala sila, same scenario sa first fame. But walang bumitaw. [We stuck] to playing hard,” she added. 
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Newly crowned Rookie of the Year Pagdulagan led the losing cause for NU with 16 points, two assists, and two steals.
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Senior big man Clarin added 12 points highlighted by three consecutive triples in the payoff period that went with five rebounds, two assists and one block. 
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Karl Pingol and Angel Surada had 11 and 10 markers, respectively.

—JKC, GMA Integrated News