The NU Lady Bulldogs target a shutout of defending champions UST Growling Tigresses after a pivotal UAAP Season 87 Finals Game One victory last weekend.
The NU Lady Bulldogs will seek the final win to their redemption run in UAAP Season 87, as they are on the cusp of regaining the championship in the women’s basketball tournament.
After their escape act against defending champions UST Growling Tigresses in Game One of the finals, head coach Aris Dimaunahan and the rest of the Lady Bulldogs are aiming to complete a season sweep en route to their eighth title in the last nine seasons.
[RELATED: NU completes comeback from 14 down to take Game 1 of UAAP women's Finals over UST]
But before getting ahead of themselves, Dimaunahan said that they’ll need to keep on pushing to avoid the series going into a decider.
“Talk about mindset, again our mantra since Day 1 is to and was to improve on the daily. We always want to get better than the day before, and that will still be our mantra, that will still be our mindset to get better from the next days so that we could be more ready come Game 2. Hopefully, we will play a lot better in Game 2 so that we could be nearing dun sa gusto naming destination this year,” said Dimaunahan.
“The job is not yet done. We’re happy but we cannot celebrate anything. We haven’t achieved any[thing]. They just gave us the chance to be one step away from our dream destination this year. Yeah, we’ll look at the tape and see how well we can still improve, that will be our mindset going into Game 2,” he added.
Since taking over the reins from decorated coach Pat Aquino, Dimaunahan hasn’t had a perfect season so far. Now that he has a chance to restore NU’s dominant status in the league, the Lady Bulldogs are expected to go all out.
Let’s take a look at the schedule for the highly competitive women’s tournament.
December 11, 2024 (Wednesday) - Mall of Asia Arena
NU vs UST (Finals Game 2) - 1:00 p.m.
The women’s basketball tournament now goes into the classic end or extend debate as the NU Lady Bulldogs and the UST Growling Tigresses clash in Game Two of the Finals.
Suffering a heartbreaking loss against NU in Game One, UST will be raring to bounce back with presumptive Mythical Five member Kent Pastrana leading the pack. But a year removed from their Game Three loss, NU will be anything but a pushover.
Emboldened by their gutsy comeback win over the weekend, Camille Clarin and the rest of NU will attempt to go for the jugular.
If successful, this will be NU’s first sweep en route to the title since UAAP Season 82.
December 15, 2024 (Sunday) - Smart Araneta Coliseum
NU vs UST (Finals Game 3) - 1:00 p.m.*
If necessary.