Lopez’ five 3’s, defensive intensity lead the Saints to a bounceback win

SANTA CLARA -- A rejuvenated Mission women's basketball squad returned to their home court and snapped a three-game losing streak to jump back to .500 near the end of the 2025-26 season.

The Saints (5-5) played a weekend gauntlet against a College of Marin team receiving votes in the states' top-25 poll, falling 67-57, and then facing No. 11 Santa Rosa less than 24 hours later and falling by almost 40. But Mission clicked on both sides of the ball against the Chabot Gladiators (1-10), a team far better than its record shows, winning 79-61.

"We played hard," said assistant coach Jerry Mukai, "and that's the key for us to getting the victory. It's good for us because we were on that little losing streak, so it's good for them to feel the taste of a win, on their home court, hopefully it bodes well for us for the rest of the season."

It would be easy to look at Chabot's overall record and think this would be a victory the Saints could cruise to. But the Glads haven't missed the postseason in the last 20 seasons and consistently send talent to the four-year level. Even their lone win this season was by double-digits against the same Marin team that beat Mission by ten.

"We played as a team finally," said sophomore guard Alyssa Lopez. "This was what we needed. I know we had a couple of losses back-to-back, and it kind of put down our morale. This one is what we needed to keep going into our next games."

The two-horse attack that Chabot has with guards Nyla McCoy and Savannah Montini would be a tough challenge, but Mission had a clear gameplan from the beginning to be the grittier and feistier squad. The Saints opened interior lanes by getting Sydney Muther and Lavina Sanft, both post players for the Gladiators, in foul trouble early while forcing the pesky McCoy off the ball.

Mission showed its intensity on both sides of the ball early on, with Lopez drawing a key charge and the Saints racking up steals and pushing away passes throughout the first half.

"We always preach it as a team," said Mukai, "every time: we want to be aggressive, we hustle, we take charges, [we] try and shoot the gaps to get steals. We just want to play aggressive, and we showed that today. Hopefully we're able to keep it up the rest of the season."

Saints' center Kaylani Trout-Lacy went to work early on, scoring Mission's first basket on an offensive rebound and putbuck as part of a 10-point, nine-rebound night.

Mission guards Ashjeet Kaur and Gabbie Gerrodette were the two biggest beneficiaries of the Chabot foul trouble. Kaur got back into her scoring rhythm, finishing with 11 points, while Gerrodette cruised along the baseline and was the main facilitator for Lopez on the wing, who finished with a season-high five 3's.

"From last year to this year, [my connection with Gerrodette] definitely grew," said Lopez. "We both have a lot of heart in this. We get frustrated but we also see eye-to-eye, and we both really wanted this game. We needed this game. We knew we needed it for our team, so for us to push through, we gave it our all.

Trout-Lacy and the guards led the way through the first period, with Mission at one point holding a nine-point lead with momentum. But Montini continuously got to the rim, getting Trout-Lacy and forward Maylin Wong into foul trouble in their own right. Chabot found interior lanes of its own and made it a one-score ballgame late into the second period.

On Mission's final possession of the first half, Gerrodette walked to the top of the key and shoveled a pass to Lopez, who hit an NBA-length 3 from the top of the arc to push Mission's lead to four before Chabot answered on the other end.

Chabot even led at one point in the third quarter before Mission called timeout and went on a run of its own, sparked in part by sophomore Jodi Regondola nailing a 3 off the bench and freshman Snowe Deleon putting in her consistent scoring play to lead the second unit. Overall, five Saints scored in double-figures as they matched their season-high in points.

"It's always great to have that balance," said Mukai. "We don't want to just rely on any one player to give us all the scoring, because it makes it easier for the other team to defend. We want to attack from all phases of the game. We have post players, guards shooting 3's, getting drives to the basket."

Mission capped its third quarter run the exact same way it ended the second: with an Alyssa Lopez buzzer-beating triple. It had been a couple of tough games on the offensive end for Lopez, but it's clear the Saints haven't lost any trust in her and, more importantly, she hasn't lost the trust in herself.

"It shows the confidence they -- my team, my coach -- have in me" said Lopez, "but also the confidence I have in myself. If I do make the shot, I'll feel like the hero, but if I don't, I'll still take on that responsibility."

Now tied for the conference lead in 3's made and 14^th in the state, Mukai was quick to recognize the impact that she's made for Mission.

"Alyssa has been great these last two years," Mukai said. "She's really developed into a lights-out three-point shooter, and you could tell. Chabot was just keying in on her in the second half, trying to deny her the shot. But she was still able to nail a bunch of 3's."

Finally with some momentum, Mission looks to close out its holiday season with a victory at home over Los Medanos this Saturday.