Tigresses oust Lady Falcons, forge finals rematch vs Lady Bulldogs

MANILA, Philippines — The University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigresses squandered a 17-point lead but recovered just in time to drub the Adamson Lady Falcons, 71-59, in their stepladder semifinal clash Wednesday afternoon at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.

UST is going back to the UAAP women’s basketball finals for the second straight season, defending their championship in a best-of-three battle against the National University Lady Bulldogs.

Kent Pastrana had a near triple-double, pacing the Tigresses with 23 points to go with 16 rebounds and eight assists. CJ Maglupay added 13 markers and 11 boards as well as six steals.

UST had a blistering start, going up by 17 points, 21-4, in the first quarter after a Maglupay jumper.

The double digit lead was held onto by the Espana-based squad through the middle of the second quarter, 33-23, after a Maglupay deuce.

However, Adamson stormed back with a 14-2 run to go up by two, 37-35, after a trey by Cris Padilla.

The Falcons went up by four, 43-39, in the third frame, but UST uncorked a 17-3 blast to erase the deficit and go up by 10, 56-46, heading into the final canto.

Inched closer to just six, 54-60, after a Kat Agojo deuce with 6:09 remaining.

But an 11-3 run capped by back-to-back layups by Nicole Danganan iced the game for UST, 71-57, with 1:42 left.

Tacky Tacatac shrugged off early struggles with 10 points on 3-of-16 shooting, while Brigette Santos finished with 10 as well.

Elaine Etang and Victoria Adeshina had 12 markers apiece for the Lady Falcons.

UST, last season, snapped the seven-year reign of NU to win its 12th overall women’s basketball championship.

But, they will be facing a hungry and angry Lady Bulldogs squad that went 14-0 in the elimination round.

The Finals will tip off this Sunday, 1 p.m., at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.