Playing their first game of the season in front of a home crowd, the Cerritos College women's basketball team did not disappoint, as they defeated Chaffey College, 66-49. The Falcons (5-10) will play another South Coast Conference crossover game on Friday at 6:00 p.m. when they host Pasadena City College.

In the win over the Panthers (9-8), Cerritos slowly started to pull ahead for a lead in the first quarter, and were aided by four three-pointers. Coming off the bench, sophomore Kaylyn James (Lakewood HS) accounted for a pair of the treys and went on to score a game-high 17 points.

Leading 8-6 with 5:57 left in the first quarter, the Falcons went on a 17-7 run to end the quarter and then did not allow Chaffey to score a basket in the second quarter. As for Cerritos, they posted 12 points to take a 37-16 lead into halftime.

The lead swelled to 49-20, which was their largest of the game, after a pair of baskets from freshman Crystal Rodriguez (El Rancho HS), as well as buckets from freshman Angie Ferreira (Long Beach Millikan HS) and James. The only aspect of the game in which Cerritos struggled was from the free throw line, where they converted just 5-of-17, which was also their success rate from three-point range.

In addition to her 17 points, James also had five assists, four steals and three rebounds, with Rodriguez contributing 15 points and eight rebounds. Freshman Alexis Clark (Mayfair HS) pulled down a season-high 13 rebounds to go with her 12 points, with freshman Alondra Calderon (La Serna HS) checking in with eight points and seven rebounds. Ferreira added seven points and four assists off the bench.

Photos by Daryl Peterson