By ADRIAN STEWART CO

Negrense Kent Jane Pastrana promised to lead the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Growling Tigresses in their comeback bid for the UAAP Season 88 women’s basketball tournament next year.

The Negros Occidental’s Silay City native confirmed that she will return for her final year, determined to help UST bounce back from their heartbreaking loss to the National University (NU) Lady Bulldogs in the UAAP Season 87 finals.

“Of course, I’ll come back for coach Haydee Ong because there’s still something I want to accomplish and prove to myself,” Pastrana said in an interview with UST’s The Flame.

“To those who don’t believe in me, I want to show them what UST is all about. I want to bounce back. I really want to bounce back,” the 5-foot-7 forward added.

Pastrana was one of the missing links in UST’s 78-73 Game 3 defeat to NU, as she was held to just seven points, to go with seven rebounds and seven assists.

Despite falling short of their championship goal, Pastrana said she is still proud of the overall performance of the youth-laden Growling Tigresses in the just-concluded UAAP season.

“I’m so proud of our team and what they’ve done,” Pastrana said.

“Even though they were rookies, and we were the underdogs, they showed courage. That’s why I’m so thankful to my teammates and the coaches who fought until the very end,” she added./ASC, WDJ