Champions by no means hand over crowns in UAAP girls’s hoops

Again to taking part in their ‘regular sport,’ the NU Girl Bulldogs present the once-unbeaten UST Tigresses that snatching the UAAP girls’s basketball title away from them gained’t be a straightforward job

MANILA, Philippines – What regarded like a UST coronation shortly was a reminder from NU that champions don’t hand over crowns.

After NU’s beautiful 84-79 upset of UST in Sport 1 of the UAAP Season 88 girls’s basketball finals, Girl Bulldogs head coach DA Olan mentioned they merely stayed true to who they’re, refusing to be rattled by a UST squad that swept the elimination spherical.

“Let’s return to our regular sport,” Olan mentioned in Filipino to his squad earlier than the title collection. “Let’s not change how we play.”

The Girl Bulldogs entered the finals with a 13-2 report, together with a grind-out Remaining 4 win in opposition to the Ateneo Blue Eagles, 67-66, that secured their ticket to the championship collection. Their solely losses got here in opposition to the UST within the eliminations. 

“What we lacked in our first two conferences is that we grew to become too conservative and our sport plan actually modified, simply because it’s UST,” he added. 

Dominating each crew this season, the Growling Tigresses additionally overwhelmed the Girl Bulldogs of their elimination-round conferences, beating them by 14 factors within the first spherical (76-62) and by 20 factors within the second spherical (105-85). 

UST had an computerized bye to the finals after going 14-0 within the elimination spherical.  

“The trouble we gave in opposition to different groups can’t be the identical in UST. We actually want so as to add extra — the perfect effort we may give,” Olan mentioned. “We needed to execute and put in a whole lot of effort. They usually did that for this sport.

The Girl Bulldogs reclaimed the crown in Season 87, taking it again from the Growling Tigresses, who broke their lengthy reign in Season 86. Each collection went on a grueling distance. 

UST appeared prepared to tug away after a blistering 16-2 surge within the third that flipped the lead. However NU refused to flinch, and Marga Villanueva buried back-to-back triples within the clutch because the defending champions snatched management and by no means regarded again.

Villanueva completed with 17 factors whereas Angel Surada paced NU with 19 factors, 7 rebounds, and 5 steals to stabilize the Girl Bulldogs within the collection opener after season MVP Ann Pingol, who had 3 factors, struggled with fouls all through the sport. 

“I informed them, they only must be prepared, anytime they go in,” Olan mentioned of his gamers. “They must contribute in any manner no matter what number of minutes they play. After they go in, they need to at all times be able to contribute.”

In the meantime, NU held UST star Kent Pastrana to only 5-of-17 from the sector, together with a 0-of-8 clip within the three-point vary, ending with 15 factors and 10 rebounds. Eka Soriano led the Tigresses with 20 factors. 

Realizing UST’s veterans Soriano and Pastrana are swinging for one final shot at glory, Olan mentioned NU is bracing for the Tigresses’ hardest hit but.

“We is not going to consider Sport 2 as a straightforward sport. Our focus ought to be on how UST will go laborious for Sport 2,” he mentioned. “We’ve got to point out focus and energy, nonetheless, maybe much more from what they confirmed in Sport 1.” – Rappler.com