In both the first and second halves, the Cerritos College women's basketball team used scoring surges to build big leads against El Camino College. The Falcons, who ended up posting a 67-53 South Coast Conference win to improve to 13-10 overall and 7-5 in conference play, led by as many as 21 points (47-26) in the second half. But the Warriors (5-15, 2-10) got as close as nine points late in the game before Cerritos closed them out. The team will now play three of their final four regular season games on the road, with a 6:00 p.m. contest against Los Angeles Southwest College on Friday their next stop.

Holding a 39-26 lead at halftime, thanks in part to six three-pointers and just one turnover, the Falcons scored points in bunches as they forced El Camino to turn the ball over and rush their shots. It resulted in six straight fast break points for a 45-26 lead to start the second half.

Sophomore Angela Pena (Huntington Park College Ready Academy HS) led the way with 16 points and pulled down five rebounds, while sophomore Marissa Rendon (St. Paul HS) finished with 13 points, eight assists, three rebounds and three steals. On the night, the Falcons out-rebounded the Warriors, 43-30, with 20 of them coming on the offensive end, which turned into 26 second chance points.

A three-pointer by ECC's Kelsey Ishigo with 3:04 left in the second half put the game at 60-51, but the Warriors wouldn't be able to score again until there was less than a minute left on the clock.

Sophomore Diamond Roberts (Mayfair HS) added eight points, while freshman Nia Lateju (Norwalk HS) finished with eight points and eight rebounds. Off the bench, freshman Tache' King (Gahr HS) pulled down five offensive rebounds, with freshman Jaclyn Saiza (Santa Fe HS) draining a pair of three-pointers to help her score seven points. On the night, Cerritos hit 10 three-pointers.

Photo by Daryl Peterson