Trailing the entire game, the Cerritos College women's basketball team was able to extend East Los Angeles College to overtime, and went on to pull out a 61-56 South Coast Conference win at Cal Poly Pomona on Friday. The first time the Falcons (10-7, 4-2) had a chance to take a lead in the game came with 11 seconds remaining in the second half. But sophomore Diamond Roberts (Mayfair HS) missed one of two free throws, which tied the game at 48-48 and eventually sent it into overtime.

It wasn't until 3:58 left left in the overtime period did Cerritos go out in front, as sophomore Deenesha Bee (Pioneer HS) scored to put the team up, 52-50. An offensive rebound basket by freshman Samira Fields (Long Beach Wilson HS) made it a four-point lead and it was a 59-54 advantage when sophomore Angela Pena (Huntington Park College Ready Academy HS) dropped a baseline three-pointer with 58.6 seconds left to all but secure the victory.

East LA (10-5, 4-1) relied on the perimiter shooting from Dioseline Lopez (16 points), while Karina Ortiz swatted away nine shots and pulled down 12 rebounds to compliment her eight points. However, Cerritos was able to wear down the Huskies as they game progressed and found Bee (17 points, 10 rebounds), Pena (12 points, seven rebounds, four steals) and Roberts (12 points, eight rebounds) to stay close and eventually pull ahead in the extra period.

The Falcons out-rebounded East Los Angeles, 57-44, with 28 of the boards coming on the offensive end. Although she was limited to just four points, freshman Nia Lateju (Norwalk HS) pulled down five of her 10 rebounds on the offensive end, while sophomore Marissa Rendon (St. Paul HS) contributed 11 points and eight rebounds. Lopez was joined in double-figures for the Huskies by Stephanie Rodriguez (13 points) and Theresa Miller (10 points).

Photo by Daryl Peterson