National University (NU) secured first place in the UAAP Season 86 Women's Basketball Championship with a 73-64 win over De La Salle University (DLSU) at the SM Mall of Asia Arena on Wednesday.

Jainaba Konateh and Karl Pingol combined for seven points with 1:47 left in the game to put the Lady Bulldogs up by four and give the defending champions a 71-60 lead.

The mat proved to be more than enough to hold off the Lady Bulldogs' late charge.

"It was a game where we couldn't consistently find our best footing. In fact, that was our challenge before the opener, we had to find some consistency in our game," lamented NU head coach Aris Dimaunahan after the win....

The Lady Bulldogs' 19-year-old Gambian big man Konate had her best game to date, scoring 17 points and grabbing 17 rebounds in 24:42 of playing time.

She was even better after Camille Clarin, Angel Surada and Tin Cayabyab all sat out the game.

"I think Janaba was the only big player among us who didn't foul out ....... I'm glad Janaba didn't foul out this morning. Her role is to grab rebounds and if she has a chance to score, she tries to score.

Clarin had five points, three rebounds and three steals on 1-of-10 shooting, but had three turnovers. Surada was plagued by foul trouble and was limited to four points and seven rebounds in 10:54 while Kayabiyabu missed all six of her shots and was held to one point.

Despite the troubles, NU did its best to extend its winning streak to eight games. They are now 10-1, while the Lady Archers dropped to 4-7.

La Salle, last season's finalist loser, will need to win all of their remaining games while hoping that the 7-4 Ateneo Blue Eagles lose all of their games to have a shot at the Final Four.

Trisha Mendoza and Bernice Paraiso also contributed 13 points and nine rebounds in the loss.Luisa De La Paz also contributed 10 points. According to head coach Jolo Villanueva, foreign student Aji Bojang of the women's archery team missed two consecutive games due to ill health.