NU Girl Bulldogs after failing to increase their dominant reign for an additional season in UAAP ladies’s basketball. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.internet
MANILA, Philippines — As Nationwide College’s seven-season reign in UAAP ladies’s basketball ends, the Girl Bulldogs get a chance to study and be higher to reclaim the crown subsequent yr.
NU’s dream for an eighth straight title was shattered by College of Santo Tomas, which pulled off a come-from-behind 71-69 win in Sport 3 because the Tigresses emerged the brand new queens within the UAAP Season 86 ladies’s basketball Finals on Wednesday at Sensible Araneta Coliseum.
“For certain, that is going to sting, it’s going to harm. However it’s all a part of life, a part of the game, any person has to win and any person has to study. And at the moment, we’re within the studying stage. We’ll use that as a motivation and springboard transferring ahead to subsequent season,” mentioned NU coach Aris Dimaunahan.
“The following query is what will we do subsequent after not getting the consequence that we would like. This loss received’t outline us. What would outline us is what we might do after this one. We’ll make the changes that we want for them to be higher gamers, for them to be higher individuals as nicely, extra importantly,” he added.
The Girl Bulldogs didn’t maintain their 15-point lead late within the third quarter and had no reply when Tantoy Ferrer scored 9 straight factors earlier than Kent Pastrana scored the game-tying basket, 69-all. Nikki Villasin delivered the championship-clinching layup for UST with 11.8 seconds left.
Coach Aris Dimaunahan and the NU Girl Bulldogs within the UAAP Season 86 ladies’s basketball finals. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.internet
Dimaunahan, who coached NU for the second straight season, took the blame.
“That it’s on me, that I might have put them in a greater place. They need to be happy with their efforts all the yr. They’ve been training on daily basis, going at it each day for this second. And I believed the women deserved the win, however I personally let it slip away,” the NU coach mentioned.
“No questions on their effort and their dedication. So they need to be all happy with their efforts and their contributions to the crew all the yr.”
Nationwide U was pushed to the boundaries by UST, which picked the precise time to finish an 11-year and 20-game shedding streak to the previous with a 76-72 win in Sport 1. Coming off its first Finals match defeat in 10 years, the Girl Bulldogs saved their title marketing campaign in Sport 2 with a nail-biting 72-70 win to drive a rubber match.
Nevertheless, NU’s reign was ended by coach Haydee Ong’s crew as UST nonetheless praised the Girl Bulldogs’ program for setting a gold customary in ladies’s basketball.
“It goes a great distance. It’s from coach Pat [Aquino], who began all of those streaks, and the whole lot, and people championships. We’re simply glad that we have been the barometer of excellence and success in ladies’s basketball within the nation, not solely within the UAAP but additionally internationally,” mentioned Dimaunahan.
“It’s a press release of how this group was made and a press release of how devoted those that went earlier than us. We really feel happy with that. It’s good for our neighborhood to be their inspiration, for them to play higher and to play tougher.”
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Dimaunahan will return to the drafting board as one-and-done Stef Berberabe ended her profession with NU, whereas the opposite gamers will nonetheless resolve if they’ll come again subsequent yr.