Kent Pastrana and Ana Mae Tacatac torched the net as University of Santo Tomas annihilated University of the Philippines, 84-60, to make it two in a row in the UAAP Season 87 women’s basketball tournament at the Smart Araneta Coliseum Wednesday, Oct. 2.

The reigning champions Golden Tigresses unleashed a 44-27 lead heading into the break and made it rain in the fourth quarter despite repeated attempts from the Lady Maroons to crawl back from a deep hole.

UST notched its fifth win against one loss at second place while UP slid to a 2-4 win-loss record. 

Pastrana, as expected, starred for the Espana-based squad after scattering 21 points, nine rebounds, four assists and two steals while Tacatac backed her up with 20 off a 6-of-10 shooting from beyond the arc.

UST head coach Haydee Ong was just amazed as the sweet-shooting Tigresses hit 13 triples in the game.

“Sabi nga nila eh, shooter will always be a shooter. It’ll give us more space in our offense kasi talagang nakatutok ‘yong mga defenders sa kaniya [Ana Mae],” said Ong.

“Kahit hindi sya nagshu-shoot, ‘yong spacing namin will have room to operate for Kent and do’n sa mga players na nagda-drive,” she added.

Meanwhile, Ateneo banked on its second-quarter surge to obliterate University of the East, 90-62, and notch its fourth victory against two losses for third spot. 

Kaycee Dela Rosa (19 points) and Sarah Makanjuola (14) showed the way for the Lady Eagles. 

In a losing effort, Princess Ganade had a spectacular output of 15 points on top of five rebounds, seven assists and three steals while Kamba Kone backed her up with 10 as UE dropped to 1-5.

The Scores:

UST (84) – Pastrana 21, Tacatac 20, Sierba 11, Relliquette 6, Soriano 5, Santos 4, Maglupay 4, Ambos 4, Pineda 3, Dionisio 2, Bron 2, N. Danganan 2, Pescador 0, Amalong 0, Serrano 0, Lopez 0.
UP (60) – Pesquera 20, Ozar 14, Bariquit 14, Maw 4, Tapawan 3, Barba 3, Jimenez 2, Sauz 0, Vingno 0, Solitario 0, Quinquinio 0, Lozada 0.
Quarterscores: 26-16, 44-27, 59-53, 84-60.