Facing the top-ranked team in the state on Friday night at Hope International University, the Cerritos College women's basketball team didn't do themselves any favors by falling behind 11-1 to start the game and trailed by as many as 14 points (26-12) before the end of the first half against Mt. San Antonio College. But the Falcons made several comebacks and were down only 27-23 by halftime. They trailed 44-31 in the second half and then got as close as 52-48 wit 4:29 left. But that would be as close as they'd get, as Cerritos (4-5) suffered a 67-60 loss to the Mounties (11-0). The Falcons will now play host to Long Beach City College next Friday at 6:00 p.m. at Irvine Valley College.

In their second half rally, the Falcons received four free throws by sophomore Angela Pena (Huntington Park College Ready Academy HS) and then a jumper by Pena got the team to within 52-48 with 5:08 left on the clock. Tatiana Parish responded with a three-pointer and a pair of free throws by Morgan Mason helped swell the Mountie lead back to nine points (57-48). Pena (13 points) converted a three-point play with 2:33 to close the gap to 59-54, but Mt. SAC converted six of seven free throws down the stretch to secure the win.

Sophomore Marissa Rendon (St. Paul HS) led all scorers with 25 points, but it was the Mounties bench that proved to be the difference in the game. Ashley Carter accounted for 19 points off the bench, while the bench added 14 rebounds. By contrast, Cerritos received 11 points and seven rebounds from their bench, while they played without the services of sophomore Deenesha Bee (Pioneer HS), who missed the game due to an injury. Sophomore Diamond Roberts (Mayfair HS) added eight points and five rebounds, with freshman Tache' King (Gahr HS) leading the shortened bench with seven points. The Mounties also out-rebounded the Falcons, 52-34.

Photo by Daryl Peterson