Not since the 1991-92 season has the Cerritos College women's basketball team missed the Southern California Regional Playoffs. But after their 66-45 South Coast Conference loss to Pasadena City College in their regular season finale, the Falcons are in jeopardy of missing the post-season. The team finished in a tie for fifth place with East Los Angeles College in the conference with an 8-8 record, while they are 14-13 on the year. They will find out on Monday of they are one of the 18 teams that advance to the playoffs.

Entering their game against the Lancers (22-6, 12-4), the Falcons knew they would have limited access to sophomore Angela Pena (Huntington Park College Ready Academy HS), who was injured in practice earlier in the week. The loss was felt immediately, as Pasadena City showed their overall team speed and shooting ability, as they netted 53% of their shots in the first half, as they opened up a 40-17 advantage.

Cerritos was trailing only 13-11 with 12:23 left in the first half after a basket by sophomore Marissa Rendon (St. Paul HS). But Pasadena City went on to outscore the Falcons, 27-6 the rest of the half, and the team spend the entire second half trying to force turnovers and low percentage shots. They did get PCC to commit 18 turnovers (compared to 25 for Cerritos), but the Lancers wound up shooting 48% from the field, with the Falcons hitting on only 25% of their shots.

Freshman forward Nia Lateju (Norwalk HS) led the team with 14 points and eight rebounds, while Rendon added 12 points before fouling out. Cerritos did out-rebound the Lancers, 48-38, but surrendered 20 points off turnovers and were outscored in the paint, 34-14. The duo of Desiree Loving (16 points) and Shay Jackson (14 points) paced Pasadena City.

Photo by Daryl Peterson