By ADRIAN STEWART CO

Negrense Kent Jane Pastrana struggled with her points as the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Growling Tigresses bowed to the National University (NU) Lady Bulldogs, 75-69, in the UAAP Season 87 women’s basketball tournament at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Saturday, September 21.

Pastrana, a Mythical team member in the UAAP Season 86, shot just 3-of-13 from the field to get just seven points, although she grabbed 10 rebounds for UST.

The Lady Bulldogs were comfortably ahead, 61-37, when the Growling Tigresses mounted a huge run behind Karylle Sierba, Eka Soriano, Pastrana, and Gin Relliquette to cut the deficit to 64-71.

Lady Bulldogs’ Camille Clarin and Karl Pingol split their free throws, while Cielo Pagdulagan scored a lay-up off Clarin’s assist in the final 2:22 to seal the win.

With the win, the Lady Bulldogs remained the only unbeaten team with a 4-0 win-loss slate, while also gaining some sort of revenge after last season’s finals defeat to the Growling Tigresses.

“I thought it was learning again even though we got the win. We’re happy with the win, but there is a lot of work to be done moving forward sa season na ito. We must get better at protecting leads,” NU head coach Aris Dimaunahan said.

Gambian center Jainaba Konateh finished with 17 points and nine rebounds, Clarin added 14 points, five rebounds and four assists, while Angel Surada ended with 11 points and 14 rebounds for NU.

Relliquette tallied a team-high 12 points, Brigette Santos added 11 points, five assists and four rebounds, while Rocel Dionisio chipped in 10 points as UST dropped to 3-1 in solo second./ASC, WDJ

NU 75 — Konateh 17, Clarin 14, Surada 11, Pagdulagan 9, Pingol 9, Cayabyab 6, Fabruada 4, Betanio 3, Canuto 2, Solis 0, Talas 0.

UST 69 — Relliquette 12, Santos 11, Dionisio 10, Soriano 8, Pastrana 7, Bron 6, Maglupay 5, N. Danganan 5, Sierba 3, Ambos 2, Serrano 0, Pineda 0.

Quarterscores: 24-16, 41-30, 62-42, 75-69.