It’s the tigresses!

University of Santo Tomas (UST) learned its lesson the hard way. Big leads mean nothing in the UAAP Season 86 women’s basketball tournament—especially in the Final Four.

So the team had a plan heading into a knockout game against the University of the Philippines (UP).

“[Having a hot start is] very important because we know that UP is a resilient team, they will always come back,” said UST coach Haydee Ong.

So the Tigresses jumped out of the gates and had enough of a cushion to hold off the Maroons in the end for an 87-83 victory on Saturday at Smart Araneta Coliseum, a victory that gave UST its second Finals appearance in the last three stagings of the women’s tournament.

The España squad will face early qualifier National University (NU) in the championship.

The Tigresses made 14 of their first 18 shots to take a 36-27 lead over the Maroons in the first quarter.

Savvy and firepower

But strong starts were not going to be enough.

“In our first game [in the semifinals] where we had a big lead, but [UP] ate it up; we have to protect the lead and we did up to the last quarter,” Ong said. UST was forced to fish its twice-to-beat card out of its pocket after UP rallied from huge deficits to score an 88-80 overtime victory in their first semifinal outing.

The Tigresses built on their early lead, hiking the margin to 17 at the end of the third, 67-50. But true to form, the Maroons ran 13 straight points to keep the game close.

This time, though, UST had enough savvy and firepower to hose down the UP rally.

“That was the system that brought us here into the Finals and we will stick to it. Hopefully, the girls will appreciate it and the discipline in executing our offense will continue in the championship games,” Ong said.

Kent Pastrana led the UST attack with 18 points and joined hands with Rocel Dionisio and Eka Soriano in defusing the late UP comeback.

“I am super grateful for us to be given an opportunity to fight in the Finals against NU. We will still do our best until we get the win,” Pastrana said. “We will trust each other and as veterans, set the tone because it is where we start to play. We’ll stick to the system and to what our coaches will tell us to do and fight until the end.”

Brigette Santos added 14 points after making 75 percent of her shots while Nikki Villasin finished with 12 points. Tantoy Ferrer had 11 points and 12 rebounds while Ana Tacatac chipped in 11.

Favour Onoh hoisted UP on her shoulders with her 21 points and 14 rebounds while Kaye Pesquera added 20. Achrissa Maw chipped in 15 while Filipino-French star rookie Louna Ozar was restricted to 13 points on four-of-10 field goals for the Maroons.

“I would just like to commend my team who really worked hard for this Finals appearance,” said Ong. INQ