MANILA, Philippines — “Nothing to be ashamed of.”
Despite squandering a 14-point lead and crumbling against National University, University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigresses head coach Haydee Ong took pride in the squad’s defensive effort against the Lady Bulldogs in Game 1 of the UAAP Season 87 women’s basketball finals.
UST led by as much as 14 points, 51-37, in the third quarter before the Lady Bulldogs bared their fangs and clawed their way out of the deficit.
And trailing by just one in the final seconds, the Tigresses had a shot to win it. Tacky Tacatac, however, missed a corner trey, enabling NU ton draw first blood, 72-71, in their best-of-three series.
“Nothing to be ashamed. Breaks of the game, yung last play namin was really made for Tacky [Tacatac]. It was a good shot,” Ong told the reporters.
“I think yun yung pride namin sa UST is to play individual and team defense. But unfortunately, yung last play kay Cielo [Pagdulagan], si Brigette [Santos] owns that, sinabi niya na mali siya and I think, yun yung maganda sa mga players ng UST, they own to their mistakes,” she added.
She also lauded Kent Pastrana for limiting turnovers even though there were double teams against her, which helped them into a double-digit lead.
“Alam na ni Kent [Pastrana] kasi yung mga gagawin sa kanya, expect na niya yung double team, so what's nice kay Kent ngayon, she only had three turnovers. Unfortunately, yung mga tira na dapat na shoot, hindi namin na shoot, but it's a good play for her,” Ong said.
The tactician showed her championship experience by saying they should learn from small mistakes as they become an advantage to their opponents.
“What's very good sa championship, kasi nakita natin ulit yung series namin sa end, yung maganda talaga at papanoorin ang mga tao. And when it comes to those small mistakes na mga ganun sa championship, you will pay for that,” she said.
The Tigresses will try to stay alive in Game 2 Wednesday at the Mall of Asia Arena. — Brent Sagre, intern