Pangasinan sends San Juan crashing

Pangasinan-Solar Home shocked erstwhile-unbeaten San Juan-DN Steel with an 86-83 overtime victory in the 2025 Women's Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League regular season presented by Akari at Strike Gym in Bacoor City late Sunday.

The Suns escaped the defending unbeaten squad in a nail-biting finish that featured clutch free throws and clutch baskets in the extra period.

With the score tied at 80 in overtime, Jhenn Angeles calmly sank two free throws before Bettina Binaoan banked in a floater, giving Pangasinan an 84-80 lead with 44 seconds remaining.

Despite battling cramps, Janine Pontejos responded with a clutch three-pointer off a handoff to pull San Juan within one, 84-83, with 36 seconds left.

On the next possession, Kristina Tolentino was called for a foul, sending LJ Miranda to the line. Miranda split her free throws, and Angeles did the same on the Suns’ following trip, pushing the lead to 86-83 with just one second left.

Chack Cabinbin had a chance to force a second overtime with a three-point attempt but missed badly, sealing Pangasinan-Solar Home’s hard-fought victory.

“I’m proud because we had great execution, especially on defense. We’re improving every game, especially in our maturity as a team,” Suns head coach PJ Navarro said.

With Pangasinan-Solar Home ace Gabi Bade struggling offensively, Lee Sario, Jhenn Angeles and Bettina Binaoan stepped up to power the team to a huge win that created a three-way tie at the top of the standings with New Zealand Blufire-Batangas and San Juan-DN Steel, all holding identical 3-1 records.

Sario led all scorers with 20 points, six rebounds and four assists.

Angeles contributed 19 points, while Binaoan delivered an efficient 18 points on 85-percent shooting, adding six rebounds and two steals.

Bade, despite shooting 3-of-12 from the field, still made her impact felt with a double-double of 11 assists and 10 rebounds, plus two steals.