By ADRIAN STEWART CO

Negrense Kent Jane Pastrana played all-around basketball as the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Growling Tigresses toppled the National University (NU) Lady Bulldogs, 76-62, in the UAAP Season 88 women’s basketball tournament at the UST Quadricentennial Pavilion on Wednesday, October 1.

Pastrana tallied 12 points, eight rebounds, four assists, a steal, and a block in a balanced performance that allowed the Golden Tigresses to turnback the Lady Bulldogs.

“Sinabi ko naman sa girls na tonight, it’s all about how the Tigresses play their basketball. It’s all about their effort. We’re missing our shots. What is important tonight is we adjusted and played our defense to clamp on those scorers of NU,” UST head coach Haydee Ong said.

The Tigresses controlled the paint, exploiting NU’s lack of an import while also sending Angel Surada to early foul trouble.

UST lorded the boards with a massive 78-37 rebounding edge, including 43 on the offensive end, which translated into 40 more shot attempts than their opponents.

Nigerian center Oma Onianwa powered UST with 18 points and 15 rebounds — 12 of them offensive — while Amby Ambos chipped in 10 points during a pivotal 18-4 third-quarter run that widened the gap to 60-42.

Eka Soriano added 11 markers, while CJ Maglupay and Coi Danganan combined for 22 rebounds.

On the other side, NU tried to rally from a 16-point first-half deficit, cutting the margin to just four in the third, but could not sustain the charge.

Xyza Pring topscored for the Lady Bulldogs with 12 points, mostly from the line.

Ann Pingol nearly had a double-double with 10 points and nine boards.

Surada, however, was limited to just three points and two rebounds.

The win lifted UST to 2-0, tied with Ateneo de Manila University and University of the Philippines at the top, while NU fell to 1-1.

The Tigresses return to action against University of the East on Saturday, October 4, while the Lady Bulldogs try to bounce back against the Fighting Maroons./ASC, WDJ