QUEENDOM
The last thing in the way of the University of Santo Tomas’ (UST) 17-year wait for a crown was a 14-point wall the National University (NU) erected entering the fourth quarter.The Tigresses were not about to let that wall remain standing.
They chipped away at that lead slowly but steadily. Tantoy Ferrer, who made a promise to coach Haydee Ong to bring the UAAP women’s title back to España before her time at the Royal and Pontifical University was up, swallowed most of that deficit on her own.
“I told myself I won’t leave UST without a championship that I can give you,” Ferrer told Ong later.
Then, with half a minute to play and the deficit down to two, Kent Pastrana and Nikki Villasin took over. Pastrana made the Lady Bulldogs pay for a costly turnover with a floater that tied the game and then Villasin pounced on an NU miss for the go-ahead basket.
UST’s graduating Filipino-American guard knew, the moment she saw her layup drop, there was no way NU was getting up from that one.
“Right when it went through the hoop and I looked back, I was like, ‘Oh my God, we just won,’” Villasin said. “Because I knew we were going to play defense; I had no doubt about our defense.”
Oh boy, was she right about that defense.
The Tigresses forced Lady Bulldogs standout Tin Cayabyab to a wild miss and a few seconds later, it was over.
Comeback
Under the weight of Ferrer’s vow, under the pressure Villasin applied with her shot, under the heat of one last defensive stop, the dynasty had fallen.
UST hammered out a 71-69 victory on Wednesday, ending NU’s run of championships at seven seasons and reclaiming a crown last won in 2006.
“I am really at a loss for words,” Ong said.
“I am really so happy for the girls; they did this,” she added. “We were down big 15 points [but] I told them ‘Don’t give up, stick together, and let’s chip away at the lead little by little until fourth quarter.”
Ferrer, playing her final year on a comeback from an ACL injury, was in a bit of a hurry, though.
She scored all the points in a 9-2 run that had UST within two points, 67-69, late in the fourth, stirring the famed Yellow Army—that loud, goosebumps-inducing cheering section that normally shows up in marquee UAAP events to support UST—into a boisterous celebration.
Ferrer heard those cheers.
“We were really motivated because it was the first time that the UST community showed this kind of support,” said Ferrer, after finishing with 19 points and 14 rebounds and taking home the Finals MVP trophy in her final UAAP game as a Tigress. “That’s why I kept telling my teammates, we need to stay together. Let’s show [the community] that it’s worth it to [support] women’s basketball and not just men’s basketball or women’s volleyball.”
As the UST cheers crescendoed, the Tigresses picked up the intensity. NU star Camille Clarin turned the ball over to set up Pastrana’s score-knotting floater.
“We made good stops in the last one minute. I think that spells the difference—the heart that my players have and did not give up,” Ong said, after the Tigresses outscored the Lady Bulldogs, 24-8, in the final quarter.
Stefanie Berberabe, NU’s explosive one-and-done guard, missed on the next play, keying a UST transition play that ended with Villasin’s final tiebreaker.
“It was like me and the basket and I saw my teammates, they gave me a quick look and I scanned the floor. I was like, ‘If I make this, it’s over,’” Villasin said.
It was over, at least for NU’s title run and the Lady Bulldogs’ aura of invincibility, carefully and patiently built through the past seven seasons. NU had not only set the gold standard for women’s basketball in the country, it had also fed the national program with some of its biggest stars.
“It goes a long way. It’s from coach Pat [Aquino], who started all of these streaks, and everything, and those championships. We’re just glad that we were the barometer of excellence and success in women’s basketball in the country, not only in the UAAP but also internationally,” said NU coach Aris Dimaunahan.
For now, the moment belongs to UST. The reign of the Tigresses begins.
“I can’t explain what I am feeling right now. I promised Coach Haydee before I joined the team that I will give her a championship. This is it, a dream come true that I’ve given this to her,” Pastrana said after contributing 16 points.
“Finally … we brought the crown back to España,” Ferrer said.
And now, the work begins to keep it there. INQ
