Lady Bulldogs reclaim UAAP women's basketball throne

MANILA, Philippines -- The Lady Bulldogs are back on top.

National University has completed its revenge season, holding on against University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigresses, 78-73, in Game 3 of the UAAP Season 87 women’s basketball tournament finals to regain the championship Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

UST gave the Lady Bulldogs a scare in the fourth but the latter thwarted the former's furious rally to win their eighth championship in nine years.

Rookie of the Year and eventual Finals Most Valuable Player Cielo Pagdulagan spearheaded the Sampaloc-based squad with 21 points, nine rebounds, three assists and three steals. Angel Surada and Camille Clarin had 14 markers apiece.

The Lady Bulldogs led by 15, 72-57, after a Clarin layup with 6:11 remaining.

But the Tigresses clawed their way back into the game.

Last year’s champions unleashed a 13-3 run to cut the lead to five, 70-75, capped by back-to-back 3-pointers by Karylle Sierba and Tacky Tacatac.

The Tigresses were able to grab the ball back, but Sierba and Tacatac missed triples that would have helped them inch closer.

And with less than a minute remaining, Pagdulagan missed a potential dagger floater. Ust secured the rebound and pushed the ball to the other end, where Sierba received the transition pass.

However, Clarin had the biggest steal of her life, grabbing the rock from the rookie and was then fouled.

Clarin made both free throws, but Sierba atoned for her turnover with a triple to make it a four-point contest, 73-77, with 13.5 seconds to go.

Clarin put the cherry on top of their championship sundae with a split from the line.

“First of all, I’m very satisfied with how we conducted our year. These players were on it since Day 1 of our training camp. We asked so much in them at hindi mo matatawaran ‘yung effort nila everyday. They’re killing each other in practice, from first group to the third group. ‘Yung competition namin sa practice, sobrang taas,” he told reporters.

“I’m really satisfied. Today is the fruit of our labor the entire year, naghintay. kami. We kept our step very cautiously. Our focus araw-araw was to get better and better,” he added.

Karl Ann Pingol chipped in 10 points and nine rebounds off the bench for the newly-crowned champions.

Sierba led UST with 20 markers, three boards and three dimes off the bench. Tacatac added 14 points in her final collegiate game, while Brigette Santos and Eka Soriano had eight apiece.

Kent Pastrana struggled in Game 3 with just seven points on 3-of-10 shooting.

The game was tied at 38-all heading into the final two quarters.

However, NU tightened up on defense and erupted on defense to start the third frame with a 50-38 lead, capped by a pair of freebies by Camille Clarin.

Sierba and Pastrana teamed up and cut the NU lead to seven, 45-52. But Pagdulagan sparked a 13-5 run to end the quarter to push the Lady Bulldogs' margin back to 15, 65-50, which NU held on to until the Tigresses’ comeback attempt in the fourth.

The only championship NU did not win in the nine-year span was last season, when UST snapped its seven-year title run in three games.