The UST Junior Golden Tigresses during their game against La Salle-Zobel in the UAAP Season 87 girls' basketball tournament, February 23, 2025 at the FilOil EcoOil Centre in San Juan. UAAP Media

MANILA -- University of Santo Tomas continued its dominant run in the UAAP Season 87 girls' basketball tournament with a 107-47 demolition of De La Salle-Zobel on Sunday at the FilOil EcoOil Centre.

The Junior Golden Tigresses improved to 5-0 while dropping the Junior Lady Archers to 1-4. The loss also formally eliminated La Salle-Zobel from contention.

More importantly for UST, their victory set up a best-of-three showdown against National University-Nazareth School (3-1) for the championship in the demonstration event.

Back in UAAP Season 82, UST also reached the Finals against Adamson University. However, the tournament was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the UAAP declared both schools co-champions.

"I was there, but hindi pa ako yung coach nun. Actually, bitin yun, nagka-pandemic. Pero nagkaraan na yun," said Junior Golden Tigresses head coach Sen Dysangco, referring to former head coach Ford Grajales, who led the team at the time.

"We are looking forward, not backward, but this is still part of UST’s culture and history. We will try to give a good showing in the Finals."

UST wasted no time imposing its dominance, racing to a 31-6 lead in the first quarter before extending the advantage to 59-22 at halftime. The gap ballooned to as much as 62 points, 101-39, in the final period.

Grachelle Boteros, a Grade 12 winger, earned her second Player of the Game honor with an all-around performance of 24 points, six rebounds, three assists, and three steals.

Katina Insoy and Rhiane Perez added 16 and 15 points, respectively, while Barby Dajao contributed across the board with nine points, 11 rebounds, six assists, and four steals.

"Masaya, especially the girls. But ang importante now is the mental situation ng girls because we are preparing them for the last four games. Okay naman, but we still need some work and improvements. We will continue to work on the girls," Dysangco added.

UST will have a preview of the Finals when it faces NUNS on March 6.

For DLSZ, Sofia Martinez led the team with 10 points, while Irish Notarte chipped in eight points and 10 rebounds.

The Scores:

UST 107 - Boteros 24, Insoy 16, Perez 15, Dajao 9, Petalcorin 9, Onate 7, Pinuela 6, Wenceslao 6, Floreindo 5, Tambawan 4, Banate 3, Arciaga 3, Anonuevo 0, Villarin 0, Pesquera 0.

DLSZ 47 - Martinez 10, Notarte 8, De Luna 7, Reyes 7, Cordero 6, Navarro 6, Dominguez 3, Poral 0.

Quarterscores: 31-6, 59-22, 88-30, 107-47.