Gerrodette’s scoring punch leads Saints to momentum win over Yuba

SANTA CLARA -- Momentum, momentum, momentum.

Back-to-back dominant wins have the Mission College Saints (9-7, 1-0 Coast-South) feeling all kinds of it after a rocky start to the 2026 portion of the schedule. It's been a long-known cliché that it's difficult to beat the same team twice in one season, but that's exactly what the Saints did against a revamped Yuba College 49ers (2-12, 1-3 Bay Valley) team right on the edge of breaking through. The Saints played aggressive from the tip and took down the Niners, 67-42.

"We played well," said sophomore guard Gabbie Gerrodette. "We started to pick it up in the second half, that was great. We really wanted to pick up the pace and get ready for San Jose. We tried to pick it up on the defensive end, which gets our offense going, so we can push the ball, get easy layups."

With fellow point guard Ashjeet Kaur day-to-day, Gerrodette has been spectacular, finishing with a game-high 21 points less than 24 hours after racking up 11 assists. After a bit of a difficult start to the season as a scorer, Gerrodette is really picking up momentum of her own, also matching her season-high with four made 3's.

Mission played three difficult games this week, falling to No. 12 San Francisco on the road in 20-point fashion before blowing out its next two opponents. Playing three games in five days can take a toll on a team both physically and mentally, but head coach Antonio Veloso echoed the sentiment that the team passed the challenge.

"The difficulty is -- three games in one week isn't difficult to motivate -- it's the type of three games in one week," said Veloso. "The main goal of the last two games was hey, we need to prepare for conference."

The Saints have had their eye on the upcoming matchup against San Jose, a team Veloso and assistant coach Jerry Mukai have yet to take down in their four-year tenure at the helm of Mission, but made it a point to not look past Yuba.

"Antonio really makes it a point that we really have to stay focused," said Gerrodette. "His new thing is 'focus for 40', and I think that's really important for us, especially as we go into conference play. We have to stay focused for all 40 minutes. When we are focused, and when things are going well for us, we're pretty good. It's hard when we are blowing teams out, but it's important because it helps us manage things like this, helps us stay focused."

Gerrodette also emphasized how, even in her run of facilitation that included two games over her last four with double-digit assists, it's less about the plays she's making and more about the way her teammates have rewarded her.

"Coach makes it a point for us to make the easy pass," Gerrodette said, "and that's what I try to focus on. I don't really try to do too much, I try to get my teammates involved. And props to them, they wouldn't be assists if they didn't make it, so it's on them. They do great putting it in the basket."

It was also important to see Mission win in a different way than it has recently, with sophomore guard Alyssa Lopez relatively cold from the field. Saturday was just her second all season without hitting a shot from deep, but she still made an impact, finishing with five assists, multiple steals and providing stellar on-ball defense.

"I saw that ten-fold," said Veloso. "She is definitely a team player, and she is going to keep going. She may have sat one minute the last two days. She'll keep going, and that's not a problem. And I love how she's confident to know that, every x-amount she's going to miss, she's going to make that many more, and that's just how the basketball game works, when you put in the work."

Past that, the Saints seem to be unlocking a deeper part of their rotation. Sophomore Jodi Regondola had a career night against Gavilan and hit a pair of 3's against Yuba. All of a sudden, she's top-5 in the conference in 3's made. Similarly, freshman forward Mo Martinez hit two 3's against Gavilan and fought through the final whistle against Yuba.

"The best part is when you unlock the second level of the bench," said Veloso, "you see how those others view them. And when those two go on, and they go off, and the bench is happy for them, they feel the sense that they're a big part of the program. And they are a big part of the program. But like anything, if you're not seeing the court enough, you get the feeling you're not. So those moments when you make a shot, you get on the ground, and you get your teammates going? That's exactly it. It's not me unlocking anything, it's their teammates unlocking it. Me telling you to play doesn't unlock anything. It's you performing, and more so, it's how they react to you performing. And I like our girls. They do a nice job of helping each other out."

Now, the challenge of San Jose City awaits. The Saints head to San Jose to take on the Jaguars on Wednesday evening.