Led by sophomore forward Nia Lateju (Norwalk HS), the Cerritos College women's basketball team posted a 61-44 South Coast Conference win over Los Angeles Harbor College on Wednesday night. The win by the Falcons (11-8, 4-1) kept them in second place in the South Division, as the team will host Los Angeles Trade-Tech College (7-8, 2-2) at 7:00 p.m. on Friday.

After the first 20 minutes of the game, Lateju had posted a double-double (13 points, 10 rebounds) and added 10 more second half points. She concluded the game with 23 points and 15 rebounds, with seven of her caroms on the offensive end that resulted in layups.

The Seahawks (0-17, 0-5) got as close as 41-35 with 11:52 left in the second half, but Cerritos wore them down with their size advantage and high percentage shooting. In addition to the 10 points by Lateju in the second half, freshman center Selena Romero (Lakewood HS) chipped in with 10 of her 15 points in the night.

It was a stretch where Lateju scored 12 of the team's 14 points that helped the Falcons maintain their lead the entire second half. Helping clean the boards was sophomore forward Alii Salone (Gahr HS), who accounted for 15 rebounds, while Romero finished with nine.

The bench welcomed nine first half points, as well as seven rebounds, from freshman guard Cassidy Carrillo (St. Paul HS), while the duo of Tache' King (Gahr HS) and Michelle Navarro (Warren HS) each played quality minutes at the point guard position. The two combined to play 40 minutes, with Navarro dishing out a team-high four assists, along with sophomore Priscilla Valdovinos (Fremont HS).

Photos by Daryl Peterson