Kent Pastrana woke up in the nick of time to help University of Santo Tomas (UST) defend its home court against Ateneo de Manila University, 77-73, in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 87 women’s basketball tournament yesterday at the Quadricentennial Pavilion.

The Growling Tigresses bolstered their Final Four bid with their eighth win in nine games, while sending the Blue Eagles to their fifth defeat in nine games.

Pastrana, the UAAP Season 86 Athlete of the Year, struggled in the first three quarters but shrugged off the rust in the fourth frame, going on a personal 7-2 run to raise the Growling Tigresses’ lead to 10 points with 4:09 left, 69-59.

The Blue Eagles launched a comeback attempt late with Junize Calago, Kacey dela Rosa and Sarah Makanjuola at the forefront cutting their once 64-74 deficit to within three with 11.6 seconds left, 73-76.

However, Season 85 Most Valuable Player Eka Soriano split her free throws on the other end to make it a two-possession game with 7.4 ticks to go before Dela Rosa missed her final attempt from deep.

“It’s a total team effort of course. Everybody worked hard. As you know, our faterloo is Casey and their FSA (foreign student athlete) so the girls really worked hard to claim this win,” UST head coach Haydee Ong said.

Pastrana scored 10 of her 16 points in the fourth period but it was a total struggle, shooting 5-of-18 from the field and 6-of-13 from the free throw line. She also tallied eight rebounds and four steals.

Brigette Santos also shone with 15 points and five assists while Tacky Tacatac shot 4-of-8 from deep to end up with 12 points.

Karylle Sierba and Agatha Bron also chipped in 11 points each in the victory that extended the Growling Tigresses’ winning run to five games.

UST will be up against Far Eastern University next on 27 October at the Mall of Asia Arena.