Pangasinan-Solar Home star Gabi Bade didn’t have her usual scoring touch, but that didn’t stop the Suns from making a statement.
With her teammates rising to the challenge, the Suns handed powerhouse San Juan-DN Steel their first loss of the 2025 Women’s Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League regular season presented by Akari, pulling off a thrilling 86-83 overtime victory last Sunday at Strike Gym.
The former Gilas standout, who came in averaging 20.7 points per game, was held to just seven on a rough 3-of-12 shooting night.
But while the points weren’t falling, Bade made her presence felt in other ways — dishing out 11 assists, grabbing 10 rebounds, and adding two steals in a gritty all-around performance.
“I’m just super proud of my teammates for stepping up, especially against a tough team. I give credit to San Juan, they’re the number one team in the league,” Bade said.
“It was a hard-fought battle, I’m just super proud of my teammates for never giving up and being able to just stay relentless and resilient throughout the whole game,” she added.
With Bade facilitating, Lee Sario, Jhenn Angeles, and Bettina Binaohan shouldered the scoring load.
(C) WMPBL
Sario poured in a game-high 20 points along with six rebounds and four assists, while Angeles added 19. Then Binaohan chipped in 18 as Pangasinan-Solar Home dealt the Lady Knights their first blemish of the season.
In overtime, LJ Miranda — who finished with eight points and eight boards —and Angeles calmly sank one of two free throws each. That sealed the Suns’ victory and creating a three-way tie at the top of the standings with San Juan and New Zealand Blufire-Batangas, all holding 3-1 records.
“We definitely didn’t underestimate them. We knew that this was going to be a tough game going against San Juan, like I said, I give credit to them because they’re the best team in the league,” Bade said.
“Beating them tonight was probably a very big statement for us, but we prepared for San Juan and I’m just glad we got the win.”
Despite her lowest scoring output of the season, the 5-foot-8 former US NCAA Division I standout embraced her playmaking role.
“I think I was doing my job. I kinda was just thinking more about my teammates, getting [the ball] to whoever is hot — especially Jhenn, LJ, Lee. They were hot the whole game, so I did my best to see them. It’s not always about points, it’s about doing the little things that are off the stats,” she said.
