By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
Tacky Tacatac, the pride of Tigbauan, Iloilo in the sport of basketball, pulled off a performance for the ages after leading the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Growling Tigresses to a lopsided 84-60 victory over the University of the Philippines (UP) in the ongoing NCAA Season 87 Women’s Basketball Tournament.
The Tigbauanon delivered her best performance for the Growling Tigresses so far in the season after exploding for 20 big points, helping UST rack its second straight victory.
Considered one of the leaders of the locker room entering her senior year, Tacatac also proved that actions speak louder than words as she entered berserk mode against one of the best teams in the UAAP.
Tacatac provided early scoring for the Growling Tigresses after exposing UP’s late rotation in the pick-and-roll, but she did the most damage in the fourth quarter.
After a quiet six-point performance in the first three quarters, Tacatac flipped the switch and went beast mode in the final frame, dropping 14 points off a barrage of long bombs and savvy drives to the basket.
Tacatac caught fire after connecting on her first trifecta in the fourth and capped off the huge win with six drained trifectas out of 10 total attempts.
Aside from her signature shooting, Tacatac was also effective on the perimeter and was a menace on the defensive end.
Backstopping Tacatac during UST’s one-sided victory was Kent Pastrana who chipped in 21 points built from 3/6 shooting from the three-point line.
“Kahit hindi nagshu-shoot si Tacky, yung spacing namin will have room to operate for Kent and doon sa mga players ko na nagda-drive,” said UST head coach Haydee Ong after the win.
