WORDS BY LUISA MORALES | PHOTOS BY INO MUÑOZ
Collegiate women’s basketball was taken by storm in 2023 when UAAP Season 86 unveiled cutthroat competition between teams.
After years-long dominance by powerhouse NU Lady Bulldogs, it was apparent from the get-go that the other teams were no longer pushovers. Led by the UST Growling Tigresses, the almighty NU empire was challenged to the brink game-by-game.
Then in the finals, it was the ladies from España that came out of the fight with fangs out as they claimed their first women’s basketball title after a 17-year drought.
Now, with more blue chip recruits heading into the fray, the competition will only get hotter from here.
Let’s take a look at all eight teams heading into UAAP Season 87.
UST Growling Tigresses (11-3)
Key losses: Tantoy Ferrer, Nikki Villasin
Key holdovers: Kent Pastrana, Eka Soriano, Tacky Tacatac
Key addition: Karylle Sierba
The Golden Tigresses are looking more formidable than ever.
Barring the exit of whom head coach Haydee Ong dubbed the ‘heart’ of the UST WBT Tantoy Ferrer, and Fil-Am guard Nikki Villasin, the core of the championship team has stayed in España.
After her Mythical Five citation in Season 86, Kent Pastrana is expected to rally her team in Season 87, where they will embark on a mission to keep the crown on their side.
Pastrana has two more years remaining with the team. She will be looking to be an even better version herself, especially after winning the Collegiate Press Corps Women’s Basketball Player of the Year Plum.
Pastrana marked her first year with UST with consistency, as she rarely faltered for her team.
Though missing out on the league MVP plum, Pastrana was an epitome of efficiency as she led UST in scoring during the elimination round with 17.89 points per game. Building their offense around the star is a no-brainer for UST.
But make no mistake about it, the Tigresses are far from a one-woman team.
Alongside Pastrana, veteran guard Tacky Tacatac and UAAP Season 85 league Eka Soriano remain viable options on offense for the Tigresses.
In her final year for UST, Tacatac will be eager to leave a championship legacy with the team, as she’s been the long-time stalwart for Ong in her collegiate career.
Meanwhile, Soriano, who was hampered in UAAP Season 86, will be seeking a redemption run.
Soriano’s numbers dipped in their championship season after being the centerpiece on offense during her MVP year. But with Ferrer and Villasin’s exits, Soriano will surely be who they call to fill in the blanks.
Apart from their holdovers, Coach Haydee’s Tigresses will also receive a boost from incoming freshman Karylle Sierba who is among the top prospects coming out of high school in women’s basketball.
Sierba competed in the first-ever SLAM Rising Stars high school girls game in mid-2023. There, she scored a record-setting 31 points in the single game.
She also played in the National Basketball Training Center Girls All-Star Game earlier this year.
With a mix of veterans and young stars, the Tigresses are certainly looking tough to beat.
NU Lady Bulldogs (13-1)
Key loss: Stefanie Berberabe
Key holdovers: Camille Clarin, Angel Surada, Karl Pingol, Kristine Cayabyab
Key additions: Marga Villanueva, Cielo Pagdulagan
There’s a saying that goes, “The comeback is stronger than the setback,” and for a wounded NU Lady Bulldogs squad, they’re about to come out with a vengeance.
After seeing their empire fall, the Lady Bulldogs retain a good chunk of their players who fell at the hands of UST in Season 86. Unfamiliar with losing, they’re surely working hard to get back to their winning ways – and fast.
NU head coach Aris Dimaunahan will still have his trusty veterans in Camille Clarin, Angel Surada, Karl Pingol, and Kristine Cayabyab at his helm once Season 87 rolls around. All armed with championship experience, they are all eager to return to the top.
As last year’s team captain, Clarin will once again be expected to lead her team back to their former glory. Armed with two championships and national team experience, there won’t be any shortage of leadership from the two-way player.
Surada, Pingol, and Cayabyab are also no strangers to UAAP glory.
No single player has really stood out for NU – but it’s because each and every one of them are able to carry a game, especially these holdovers for the Lady Bulldogs.
Proven and tested by time, the Lady Bulldogs program will build on its existing core to find their second wind after snapping a streak of seven straight championships.
More than what they already have, the Lady Bulldogs will also be benefiting from their stellar high school program with the additions of two homegrown talents.
Marga Villanueva and Cielo Pagdulagan will reinforce an NU team that is already brimming with talent as they bring fresh faces to the competition.
Villanueva recently competed with the Gilas Pilipinas Women’s U18 team where she helped the Nationals get promoted to Division A in the competition. She averaged 11.8 points per game – good for 8th overall in the tournament.
Meanwhile, Pagdulagan flexed her pedigree in the National Basketball Training Center Manila Live U19 girls’ tournament where she helped the NU Lady Bullpups get the title over Fil-Am Nation Select. In the championship game, she topscored for NU with 26 points.
With an already stacked lineup further enhanced by their homegrown young talent, NU – like always – is a threat to win it all.
UP Fighting Maroons (10-4)
Key losses: Justine Domingo, Rhea Sanchez
Key holdovers: Louna Ozar, Kaye Pesquera, Favour Onoh (INJ)
Key addition: Camille Nolasco
Perhaps the most surprising team of Season 86 was the resurgence of the UP Fighting Maroons.
Even though they just barely missed out on the semifinals the year prior, nobody expected the fight that the Diliman cage belles would bring to the table.
The team was led by two first year players – Louna Ozar and Favour Onoh, as they became one of the most lethal 1-2 duos in the league.
Even as a rookie, Ozar proved her mettle as a starting guard for UP. She was able to distribute the offense immensely with her passing, and provided offense on her own with her shooting and moves to the basket.
Meanwhile, Onoh was a beast on the paint, stacking double-doubles as she became the focal point of Coach Paul Ramos’ plays. However, she will be missed by UP this season as she recovers from knee injuries.
UP rode the pair’s high-octane and efficient offense to a 6-0 start to the season, which was highlighted by a historic win over then-defending champions NU Lady Bulldogs in the first round. But even when they were stopped by the Ateneo Blue Eagles at the end of the first half of the season, UP was consistently competitive.
With Ozar returning, along with sharp shooter Kaye Pesquera, among others, the Fighting Maroons will have no shortage of options on offense.
But UP will also be welcoming one of the most sought after recruits coming out of high school.
Gilas women youth player Camille Nolasco will finally make her UAAP debut in Season 87 after committing to the Fighting Maroons as early as 2023.
Nolasco, who is a product of the Jr. NBA program and participated in Basketball Without Borders, has been participating in competitions with UP outside of the UAAP to build team chemistry early on with her new teammates.
She is expected to add to Ozar’s firepower and may be the missing piece that the Fighting Maroons need to improve on their 3rd place finish.
Ateneo Blue Eagles (8-6)
Key loss: Jhazmin Joson
Key holdovers: Kacey Dela Rosa, Junize Calago, Sandra Villacruz
Key addition: Kailah Oani
The Ateneo Blue Eagles have steadily risen through the ranks in the past few seasons as they made a return trip to the Final Four since collegiate women’s basketball came back post-pandemic.
Even as they have yet to establish themselves as title contenders along with NU and UST, following semis exits in recent years, there is still much to look forward to for LA Mumar’s Blue Eagles.
Jhazmin Joson may have left the Eagles’ nest as she graduated from Ateneo, the team remains formidable with a number of holdovers expected to fill the gap. Reigning MVP Kacey Dela Rosa leads the way for the Blue Eagles who are seeking to end a title drought.
A double-double machine, Dela Rosa is expected to reign supreme in the paint with her efficient play and rebounding prowess.
Dela Rosa, who has taken the league by storm since her rookie year, will connive with the likes of veterans Junize Calago, and Sandra Villacruz to compete for their school’s first championship in women’s basketball since UAAP Season 70.
Coming off of a Mythical Five citation in Season 86, Calago will inherit the leadership role from Joson as one of the more older players in the lineup. As floor general, the team will look to her in forming their plan of attack.
She will share the responsibility with Villacruz, who was also Joson’s co-captain last year.
Dela Rosa, for her part, is also expected to pick up her own slack on the mental side as she comes into her third year in the league.
Apart from Mumar’s trusty stars, Gilas girls standout Kailah Oani will seek to be a game-changer for the Blue Eagles’ program.
After scoring more than a 1000 points in high school, the Filipino-American is going to be zeroed in making her presence felt as early as her rookie year when the ball gets rolling.
Hungry for a championship, Ateneo is a dark horse to take home all the marbles.
La Salle Lady Archers (7-7)
Key loss: –
Key holdovers: Luisa Dela Paz, Lee Sario, Bettina Binaohan
Key additions: –
After a year of rebuilding, the DLSU Lady Archers are looking more and more competitive as Season 87 nears with an in-tact roster heading into the new tournament, with no players graduating from last year’s team.
Even as they struggled from the get-go last year, Coach Cholo Villanueva’s wards have been working on their craft game-by-game.
Slowly but surely, La Salle learned to cope without Marga Jimenez and Fina Tchuido, and having adjusted for a year, the Taft cagers are expected to come back mightier.
Even during the second half of Season 86, La Salle were already able to regain their bearings and were good enough to finish on an even 7-7 slate – one spot shy of the Final Four.
Armed with more experience, DLSU veterans like Lee Sario and Bettina Binaohan will power a Lady Archers team eager for a return to the semifinals.
After a finals stint in UAAP Season 85 vs powerhouse NU, both Sario and Binaohan will be the first options to find their points. More importantly, they have been tried and tested as leaders on and off the court during a trying rebuilding season.
But they won’t just be a 1-2 punch. Luisa Dela Paz is also a key holdover for Villanueva as she’s been a steady source of offense for her team in her first two seasons.
More than their holdovers, La Salle also caught big fish in the offseason as NU product BJ Villarin jumped fences and joined the Lady Archers.
Coming out of high school, Villarin will be an exciting addition and will be hopeful to make her presence felt.
Apart from her experience with the highly touted NU-Nazareth School program, Villarin also got her feet wet with the national team youth teams back in 2022.
Carrying momentum from the tail-end of last year’s campaign, La Salle hopes to put their name back into the title conversation.
Adamson Lady Falcons (4-10)
Key loss: Rose Ann Dampios
Key holdovers: Victoria Adeshina, Cris Padilla, Cheska Apag
Key additions: –
Add the Adamson Lady Falcons to the list of teams virtually untouched after Season 86, with only former captain Rose Ann Dampios graduating from last year’s squad.
Though paling in comparison to their Final Four squad in 2022, the Lady Falcons had flashes of brilliance in their campaign.
Dampios saw limited minutes in her final playing year as she was nursing what was an undisclosed injury at the time, but the Lady Falcons were able to build their offensive game around former Mythical Five member Victoria Adeshina.
The foreign student-athlete was the Lady Falcons’ anchor as she contributed consistently to their scoring and rebounding game-in and game-out. As she gets her feet wet in her third season in the UAAP, she’ll be expected to do the same.
Meanwhile, high school MVP Cris Padilla made waves in her first year with the seniors team for Adamson, but will want to do more as they aim to improve from their bottom four finish the previous season.
As a newcomer to the collegiate scene, Padilla’s numbers showed her potential for more MVP-esque numbers later on in Season 86, now coming into the new year with more experience, she’ll be primed to contribute even more.
Fellow incoming second year Cheska Apag can be leaned on to do the same, after showing her scoring prowess in her rookie season, providing key scoring as a supporter to both Adeshina and Padilla.
Armed with one UAAP season each under their belts, Padilla and Apag are expected to be more used to the pressure and come out with bigger numbers for the San Marcelino squad.
With head coach Ryan Monteclaro now more acquainted with leading his team from the sidelines, the Lady Falcons are coming into Season 87 with more experience and lessons from their up-and-down campaign.
FEU Lady Tamaraws (3-11)
Key loss: Mikee Antonio
Key holdovers: Josee Kaputu, Rea Fe Ong, Shane Salvani
Key addition: Coach Raiza Palmera-Dy
You don’t often encounter when a team’s biggest offseason catch is a head coach. But when the coach you nab is FEU basketball legend Raiza Palmera-Dy, it’s a valid take.
Palmera-Dy, a two-time UAAP champion, spearheads a team that has Josee Kaputu as its cornerstone. Though finding themselves only 7th in the standings last year, Kaputu was a menace to the rest of the league – as she finished runner-up in the MVP race.
Kaputu was less than two statistical points off of MVP Kacey Dela Rosa, which was an impressive feat, considering that she had won significantly less games than her Ateneo counterpart.
Only in her second year in the UAAP, there’s more potential to explore for the foreign student athlete.
But the former national team stalwart won’t just have Kaputu at her arsenal, as she also has other holdovers intact from last year like budding scorer Rea Fe Ong.
Shane Salvani, who was consistently a supporting player for Kaputu in Season 86, will also be available for the first-time head coach.
Armed with her decorated career not just in the UAAP but also with the national team, Palmera-Dy will surely be able to flesh out the potential of all her players.
With their Fil-Am recruit Amyah Espanol having to sit out the season to do her residency, the new coach will have more than enough pieces to compete with the field.
UE Lady Warriors (0-14)
Key losses: Dianne Pedregosa, Arabela Dela Rosa, Pauline Anastacio
Key holdovers: Kamba Kone, Princess Ganade
Key addition: Rachel Lacayanga
There’s one thing to look optimistically on when you finish a winless season – that is there is no other way to go but up for the next year.
Exactly the case for the UE Lady Warriors who went without a win in 14 games in Season 86. Despite close calls and best efforts, the team from Mendiola just couldn’t get over the hump.
But with a clean slate in Season 87, UE can hold out for the possibility of that streak busting win sooner rather than later.
As they keep a couple of their core players, led by Kamba Kone, Arabela Dela Rosa, and Pauline Anastacio, the Lady Warriors are heading into a new season with the hopes of establishing a winning culture.
They will especially lean on Kone who will be entering her third year in the UAAP. Now more attuned to the physicality of the league inside the paint. UE can expect more dominance from the Mali-born player.
Though they will be missing the leadership of last year’s skipper Dianne Pedregosa, who already used up her eligibility in the team, both Dela Rosa and Anastacio will be expected to fill in the void as they continue to secure experience in the league.
There is nothing more dangerous than going up against a win-hungry team in the UAAP.
And with how the league has gone in recent years, you never know when the Lady Warriors can pull their surprises.
