Maroons pull off big one

MANILA, Philippines — Unbeaten University of the Philippines ended a 12-year misery against the mighty National U dynasty with a thrilling 72-69 win in the UAAP Season 86 women’s basketball tournament yesterday at the UST Quadricentennial Pavilion.

The Fighting Maroons unleashed a rousing start before holding off a late-game rally for their first win over the seven-peat champion Lady Bulldogs since a 60-59 win in Season 74 in 2011.

Favour Onoh showed the way with 18 points, 14 rebounds, four steals and four blocks as UP claimed its third straight win in as many starts for a joint lead with Santo Tomas (3-0).

Onoh drew support from Christie Bariquit and Kaye Pesquera with 13 and 11 points, respectively, for the Diliman-based dribblers, who earlier trounced Adamson, 92-61, and University of the East, 66-48.

Rookie Louna Ozar debuted with nine points, four rebounds and four assists after her stint with Gilas Pilipinas women who finished fifth in the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China.

“Nothing to say. We’re just really happy. We’re gonna celebrate the moment but we didn’t come here this season just to win a game against NU. We have a mission and we’re trying to get that,” said UP head coach Paul Ramos, as UP tries to end a long drought.

The Fighting Maroons last won the UAAP women’s title in 1984. From then to know, their best showing was a Final Four feat in 2008.

This time, UP is looking good, especially with a gigantic win over NU.

Karl Pingol (15), Camille Clarin (12), Kristine Cayabyab (12) and Angel Surada (11) led the Lady Bulldogs, who suffered a first defeat in their eight-peat bid and fell to 2-1.

NU, last season, also saw its 108-game, nine-year winning streak end at the hands of La Salle, 61-57, before exacting revenge in the finals to retain the crown.

In other games, Ateneo (2-1) took down Adamson (0-3), 69-59, as Santo Tomas (3-0) stayed undefeated with a 91-57 win over La Salle, which tripped to a 0-3 start after a runner-up finish last season.