In their 80-78 overtime loss to visiting Los Angeles Trade-Tech College on Wednesday, the Cerritos College women's basketball team finished on the wrong end of the last lead change. There were 21 lead changes and 15 ties in their South Coast Conference crossover game against the Lady Techsters. The teams played a fairly even game, but the difference in the outcome came on the free throw line.

On the night, LA Trade-Tech netted 32-of-49 free throws, while the Falcons made 30 appearances at the charity stripe and converted 20 of them. In the five-minute overtime period, LA Trade-Tech scored 11 of their 15 points from the free throw line.

Cerritos (13-7) held a 38-31 lead with 6:19 left in the third quarter, but watched the Lady Techsters outscore them, 12-4 over the next 2:07 and trailed, 42-41. It was the scoring of Jazzlyn Moore to brought LATT (8-8) back into the game, scoring eight of those points and finished the night with 19 points. Dynasti Shelby led LATT with 23 points.

The Falcons were even up, 64-59 with 1:59 left in regulation after a pair of free throws from sophomore Miranda Valentin (Bellflower HS). Mary Mikaelian drained a three-pointer with 1:02 left to get LA Trade-Tech to within 64-63 and with time running out, sophomore Kennedi Cooper (Lakewood HS) had a pair of chances to end the game in regulation. But she missed her first shot and saw her second attempt blocked.

In the extra period, Cerritos took a 74-70 lead on a three-pointer from freshman Allyson O'Brien (La Habra HS) and bucket from sophomore Ashley Flores (California HS). But LA Trade-Tech made four straight appearances on the free throw line and converted 6-of-8. The Falcons saw four players fouled out of the game, which depleted their bench.

On the night, Valentin led the team with 20 points and added eight rebounds, with O'Brien checking in with 19 points and seven rebounds. She drained a trio of three-pointers in the first quarter to get the team started and added another in extra time. Flores pulled down 11 rebounds to accompany her nine points, with freshman Kaylyn James (Lakewood HS) scoring all eight of her points in the third quarter.

Cerritos will travel to Pasadena City College on Friday for a 5:00 p.m. conference crossover game.

Photos by Daryl Peterson