By ADRIAN STEWART CO

The University of Santo Tomas (UST) Junior Golden Tigresses completed a sweep of the UAAP Season 87 girls’ basketball eliminations after a 91-66 rout of the National University Nazareth School (NUNS) Lady Bullpups at the FilOil EcoOil Centre in San Juan City.

Bacolodnon Barby Dajao delivered a triple-double of 15 points, 15 rebounds and 11 assists, along with a steal and a block for UST, which will battle NUNS anew in the best-of-three finals beginning on Thursday, March 13.

Katrina Insoy fired 31 points on 10-of-17 shooting, while adding five rebounds, three assists, two steals, and a block for the Junior Golden Tigresses, which swept their six elimination round games.

Holding to a slim 42-34 lead at the 2:50 mark of the second quarter, UST broke the game open when Giorgina Anonuevo and Insoy combined for eight straight points, sending the Lady Bullpups into a 50-34 hole at halftime.

The Junior Golden Tigresses then erupted for a dominant 21-11 third-quarter run, highlighted by two triples from Insoy and a layup from Rhianne Perez, en route to a 25-point victory.

“I am quite satisfied with how our girls played. Although we still made mistakes and had lapses, they followed our game plan and preparation. I’m very happy for them,” UST head coach Arsenio Dysangco said after the game.

“One more thing, they played as a team, which is a huge boost for us heading into the finals,” he said.

“We didn’t expect such a wide margin in this game, but we just focused on the process and improving ourselves day by day. We don’t measure ourselves against other teams. We just try to be the best versions of ourselves,” he added.

Ashley Trinidad led the Lady Bullpups with 16 points, on a perfect 5-of-5 shooting clip, to go with seven rebounds.

Aubrey Lapasaran struggled offensively with just 11 points on 4-of-15 shooting as they dropped to a 4-2 mark./ASC, WDJ