NU's Clarin admits getting back at UST was on her mind

MANILA, Philippines -- Indeed, revenge is a dish best served cold.

It took her nine months, but National University's Camille Clarin finally exacted payback against the University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigresses.

Back in UAAP Season 86 in December last year, the Growling Tigresses snapped the Lady Bulldogs' seven-year championship run.

After leading the squad in scoring in the first two games of the finals, Clarin struggled in the winner-take-all Game 3, finishing with just two points on 0-of-11 field goal shooting.

Fast forward 290 days, and things are different.

In their Season 87 showdown Saturday, Clarin provided the needed scoring punch to push the Lady Bulldogs over UST, 75-69.

She scored 11 points in the first half, which saw the Lady Bulldogs take a lead as high as 16 points in the second quarter.

Overall, Clarin finished with 14 points, five rebounds and four assists.

After the game, Clarin admitted that she had the Lady Bulldogs’ clash with UST circled on her calendar.

“As much as I want to deny it, it was. It was. September 21 was the date on my mind for sure,” she told Philstar.com.

“It’s great to play against teams of that caliber. It brings out the best in people. That kind of competition is what we live for. Those are the reasons why we work so hard, to get that competition,” she added.

Clarin also bared that the Game 3 “weighed on me for months.”

“I did not get to play UST in the preseason so this game is nine months coming, it’s like my baby, you know?” she told reporters at a press conference.

“I waited nine months to play this game to make something happen again, to forget about that game and I think this is the perfect way to do it,” she added.

NU led by as much as 24 points, 61-37, in the third quarter before UST slowly clawed back and cut it to single digits.

However, timely shots by the Lady Bulldogs as well as costly turnovers by the Tigresses spelled the doom for the Espana-based squad.

Clarin also stressed that there is “gigil” in playing against their tormentors, but she has been working on her level-headedness.

“I think for me, of course there’s gigil. But I think what I’ve been practicing this whole offseason is controlling what I can control. A lot of times when you go into a game gigil, I don’t play like the way I need to play,” she said.

“Being level-headed, I think that’s what was super important to me. My teammates rely on me a lot, they look at my energy, they look at the way I play, my emotions so I think a big thing was keeping them in check so when they look at me, they know they’re also level-headed. So of course there’s gigil but it’s more of just excitement of getting to match up again.”

And now that NU has finally shrugged off the bad memories of the past, they are not getting ahead of themselves.

“We’re taking it one game at a time, we’re happy that we got one win over them. But there’s many times that we’re gonna match up with them this season so we’re just looking forward to the next game,” Clarin said.