UAAP Women’s: UP beats UST, returns to finals

MANILA, Philippines – The University of the Philippines Lady Maroons earned a return trip to the finals after a 50-46 win over the University of Santo Tomas Tigress in Wednesday’s final-four game in the UAAP women’s basketball tournament at The Arena in San Juan City. UP faced a tough task when it faced UST in the semifinals after the Tigresses hold a twice-to-beat advantage. The Lady Maroons, however, coasted to a 52-39 rout in Game 1 to force a knockout match and completed the upset Wednesday. Fatima Tolentino led UP’s victory with another double-double performance with 17 points and 18 rebounds as she held her own against the tough UST defense. The loss was a bitter pill to swallow for UST, which even led by 15 points at the end of the first quarter but could not sustain their hot start as the game progresses. UP showed better endgame poise as it rallied back in the match then held off UST’s repeated rallies to secure the win. Marichu Bacaro buried a three-pointer to put UST within three, 49-46, with two minutes left in the game. UST, however, failed to convert in the final 40 seconds of the match despite back-to-back offensive rebounds by Paula Bombeo and Rem Buenacosa. Bacaro led UST’s losing cause with 18 points, nine rebounds, nine assists, two steals and one block. – Andrew Lanot