With their 58-49 loss to host East Los Angeles College on Wednesday night, the Cerritos College women's basketball team may have just seen their chances at a playoff bid fall by the wayside. The setback was the fifth in the last seven games for the Falcons (13-12, 7-7), who sit in sixth place in the South Coast Conference with just two games remaining in the regular season. Cerritos could have leap-frogged over the Huskies (15-9, 8-5) with a win, but must now win their final games and wait for the seeding meeting. The Falcons will travel to Los Angeles Trade-Tech on Friday for a 6:00 p.m. game and then finish by hosting third place Pasadena City College the following Friday.

Not much went right for Cerritos against East LA, as they opened the game shooting just 1-for-16 in the first 10 minutes of the game and were 3-for-25 with 5:19 left in the first half. In spite of their horrendous shooting and turnovers (14 in the first half), the Falcons trailed only 22-19, mainly because the Huskies were just 7-for-32 in the first 20 minutes. Cerritos scored the final six points of the first half to get within three points, with sophomore Marissa Rendon (St. Paul HS) netting a three-pointer with 24.6 seconds left.

But the cold shooting continued in the second half, as the team fell behind by as many as 13 points (39-26) with 10:30 remaining in the game. An offensive spurt got them as close as 51-47 with 1:16 left in the second half, but five unsuccessful possessions prevented the Falcons from getting any closer. Steals, combined with Huskie turnovers gave Cerritos their fair share of chances. But their inability to score from the outside (6-for-28 three-pointers) and 22 turnovers cost the team a chance to win.

Even with a nine-point lead (51-42) with 3:21 left, East LA wouldn't score another basket the remainder of the game. But they did convert 6-of-7 free throws to secure the win, with Dioseline Lopez (17 points, seven rebounds) accounting for four of those free throws.

On the night, Rendon (5-for-22 FG) led the team with 18 points and pulled down five rebounds, while sophomore Angela Pena (Huntington Park College Ready Academy HS) contributed 11 points and eight rebounds. Sophomore Diamond Roberts (Mayfair HS) added nine points, eight rebounds, five assists and three steals, with De Laura Castaneda (19 points, nine rebounds), Lopez (17 points, seven rebounds, five assists) and Stephanie Rodriguez (13 points) led the Huskies.

Photo by Daryl Peterson