UAAP: NU stuns UST, draw first blood in women's basketball finals

Defending champion National University dealt top seed University of Santo Tomas its first loss in the UAAP Season 88 women’s basketball tournament, 84-79, to take Game 1 of their best-of-three finals series on Saturday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

After going through the stepladder semifinals that saw them escape Ateneo de Manila University, 67-66, the Lady Bulldogs moved a win away from clinching their ninth overall title.

Angel Surada carried out a team-high 19 points that went with seven rebounds, three assists, five steals, and one block, while Marga Villanueva provided 17 markers and six boards.

After trailing 67-70 halfway through the fourth quarter, Villanueva fired back-to-back triples to give NU the 73-70 lead with 4:34 left to play.

UST then managed to pull itself within one, 78-79, after Oma Onianwa’s layup cut the deficit in the final minute of the game.

However, Surada, Aloha Betanio, and Tin Cayabyab took turns stretching the gap in their 5-1 finishing kick to seal the win for the Lady Bulldogs.

“During the elimination round, we lost to them. We’re happy to finally win against them one at a time here in the finals. In our first two meetings, masyado kaming naging conservative. Sabi namin ibalik namin yung normal game namin. Luckily, we made shots early on,” said NU head coach DA Olan.

Eka Soriano paced UST with 20 points to lead all scorers. Kent Pastrana and Karylle Sierba had 15 and 14 markers, respectively.

For their parts, Brigette Santos and Onianwa combined for 21 points in a losing effort.

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

—JKC, GMA Integrated News