In their final game before playing for the South Coast Conference South Division title, the Cerritos College women's basketball team defeated host El Camino College, 67-57 on Wednesday. The Falcons (15-10, 8-3) will host first place Long Beach City College (22-4, 9-2) at 5:00 p.m. on Friday, which will also serve as the school's Coaches vs. Cancer Fundraiser. In their first meeting, the Vikings posted a 59-46 win over Cerritos.

The win over El Camino (12-13, 3-8) was full of momentum swings for both teams, as Cerritos opened up a 12-point first half lead (24-12) before settling on a 32-23 advantage at intermission. The Falcons scored the first eight points to start the game, and were led by freshman Cassidy Carrillo (St. Paul HS), who drained a trio of three-pointers and scored 11 first-half points.

But the Warriors opened the second half by out-scoring Cerritos, 13-5, as Faith Matsuda netted a pair of three-pointers to see the score get as close as 37-26 with 15:18 remaining. The Falcons responded with eight straight points, as sophomore Dijonnae Murphy (Santa Fe HS) scored on an offensive rebound put-back, as well as on a fast break layup. El Camino would only get a close as five points (49-44) the rest of the way, as Cerritos scored their final 10 points from the free throw line.

Carrillo led all scorers on the night with 17 points, while freshman center Selena Romero(Lakewood HS) added 12 points, nine rebounds and five blocked shots in the win. SophomoreAlii Salone (Gahr HS), who accounted for five of the final 10 points from the charity stripe, concluded with game with nine points and eight rebounds, with sophomore Nia Lateju(Norwalk HS) hauling in 12 rebounds. Shontalene Trudeau (15 points) and Michelle Garrison (14 points, 13 rebounds) led El Camino.

Photos by Daryl Peterson