Pilipinas Aguilas eye historic crown
‘For us to close out the series, I think we really need to clean up on our defense and find a way to contain them.’
‘For us to close out the series, I think we really need to clean up on our defense and find a way to contain them.’
Pilipinas Aguilas look to make history, while University of Santo Tomas (UST) hopes to keep its title hopes alive when they collide in Game 2 of the 2025 Women’s Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (WMPBL) Invitational Tournament best-of-three finals series today at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
Game 1 was a gritty, hard-fought battle that went down to the wire with the Aguilas emerging victorious in double overtime, 95-86, over the young Growling Tigresses to move on the verge of the inaugural WMPBL crown.
With emotions running high and the physicality expected to carry over, another tightly contested showdown looms at 6 p.m., as the Pilipinas Aguilas look to close out the series while UST fights to stay alive.
The Aguilas clamped down on defense in the second overtime of Game 1, holding the Growling Tigresses to just three points in the final extension — and keeping them scoreless in the last three minutes and 56 seconds of the game.
But interim Pilipinas Aguilas head coach Paolo Layug wants more from his squad on the defensive end, stressing that they need to shut down — or at least contain — Kent Pastrana to have a real shot at closing out the series and securing the championship.
“For us to close out the series, I think we really need to clean up on our defense and find a way to contain them,” Layug said.
“But a great player like Kent Pastrana, you can’t completely shut her down, but we have to try and limit her and make it more difficult for her.”
“We have to find a way to limit her ‘cause she really, really gave us a hard time in (Game 1).”
Pastrana, who buried a buzzer-beating triple to force a second overtime in Game 1, delivered a stellar performance of 23 points, nine rebounds, five assists, and two steals for UST before fouling out late. Her all-around impact is exactly what Layug hopes to neutralize as the Aguilas look to close out the series.
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