Tigresses sweep way to UAAP women’s basketball finals

MANILA, Philippines — University of Santo Tomas earned an outright finals berth in the UAAP Season 88 women’s basketball tournament after sweeping the elimination round, capped by a 101-84 victory over the Far Eastern University Lady Tamaraws Wednesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The Tigresses thus completed a 14-0 sweep in the elimination round, which led them to their third straight finals.

The Final Four will now be a stepladder format, with Ateneo and Adamson starting it off, before the winner faces defending champion National University for a chance to take on UST.

Karylle Sierba led six Tigresses in double figures with 17 points, five rebounds and five assists, to go with three steals. Coi Danganan and Oma Onianwa had 15 and 14 markers, respectively. Eka Soriano and Kent Pastrana chipped in 13 points apiece, while Brigitte Santos had 10.

“We're happy na sweep namin but the job is not yet done. We still have two more games to end the season. So, we will take a break muna after this. Reset and review what needs to be improved para sa sarili muna namin. Because we don't know pa kung sino yung competitor namin,” said UST head coach Haydee Ong.

“So, we really have to improve ourselves pa rin coming after this 14-0 sweep.”

After trailing big in the first three periods, FEU moved to within eight, 65-73, with 8:13 remaining after a jumper by Amyah Espanol.

But a massive 9-2 run capped by a CJ Maglupay layup pushed UST’s lead to 15, 82-67, with about six minutes left.

The Espana-based squad then turned things up a notch and grabbed a lead as high as 19 points, 101-82, after a Kent Pastrana jumper, as the Tigresses pulled off their first elimination round sweep since 2003.

UST, as usual, started off waxing hot, going up by 11, 28-17, at the end of the first quarter.

The Lady Tamaraws, who were fighting for their lives, kept within striking distance and sliced the deficit to single digit, 36-44, late in the second frame.

But big treys by Sierba gave the Tigresses breathing room, 50-38, at the half, setting the stage to UST’s late push.

Maglupay had eight markers and 12 boards, to go with two swats, two steals and a dime.

Espanol paced FEU, which finished the elimination round with a 6-8 record as the fifth spot, with 25 points, four rebounds, four assists and three steals. Shemaiah Abatayo added 21 markers.