University of the East punched the final ticket to the UAAP Season 80 women’s basketball Finals after edging University of Santo Tomas, 69-62, in their stepladder semifinals tiff Saturday at Mall of Asia Arena.
Love Sto. Domingo caught fire in the fourth quarter, where she poured nine of his 18 points while Eunique Chan scattered 16 markers, 11 boards, and two dimes to help the Lady Warriors advance to the championship round.
Sto. Domingo also grabbed 12 rebounds and three assists
Joyce Francisco also added 14 points, six rebounds, and three assists, while Ruthlaine Tacula did all the dirty work and finished eight markers, eight dimes, and six boards.
UE fought back from a 47-56 deficit entering the final frame after staging a telling 11-0 blast to grab a 58-56 with 5:56 remaining.
The Lady Warriors continued to frustrate the Tigresses in the remaining minutes, limiting the España crew to just six points to pull off the victory.
The game, however, was marred by a bench-clearing brawl with the result already decided after UST’s Sai Larosa threw a punch at Sto. Domingo that triggered the melee. Larosa and UE’s Marieny Requiron, Erica Ebeza, and Princess Pedregosa were all ejected for their involvement in the scuffle.
UE coach Aileen Lebornio was also attested with a technical foul for the incident.
Still, it couldn’t dim the spotlight on the Lady Warriors’ triumph as they arranged a Finals duel with the reigning three-time women’s champions National University Lady Bulldogs beginning Wednesday at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
“I saw our work through the past five years. I told them after our loss to UST in Game 1 that it’s painful, but we need to bounce back and think about our goal. We can’t turn back, but rather as Warriors, we have to move forward,” said Lebornio.
Anjel Anies paced UST with 16 points, while Larosa got 16 markers, eight rebounds, and four assists before her ejection.
The scores:
UE 69 – Sto. Domingo 18, Chan 16, Francisco 14, Tacula 8, Cortizano 7, Ramos 4, Requiron 2, Gayacao 0, Antonio 0, Nama 0.
UST 62 – Anies 16, Larosa 16, Gandalla 9, Angeles 7, Rivera 4, Peñaflor 3, Jerez 3, Sanggalang 2, Isanan 2, Aujero 0, Portillo 0, Magat 0, Manuel 0, Valera 0.
Quarters: 10-16, 27-35, 47-56, 69-62.