With visiting Rio Hondo College looking to pull themselves back into their game against the Cerritos College women's basketball team on Wednesday, it was the fourth quarter that sealed the 69-54 win. The Roadrunners (1-6) had closed the Falcons (7-2) 10-point third quarter lead on a pair of three-pointers, with Cerritos leading just 47-43 heading into the final 10 minutes.

Three consecutive buckets by freshman Jesenia Rendon (Carson HS) built the lead to 53-43, with freshman Carolina Cuevas (Legacy HS) converting a layup to make it an 8-0 run to start the quarter and put the lead at 55-43 with 7:44 left in the fourth quarter. Cerritos would go on to outscore Rio Hondo, 22-11 in that last quarter to post the win.

The Falcons opened up an early 19-9 lead after the first quarter. But a pair of quick fouls against Serena Rendon (Carson HS) gave her three on the night and sent her to the bench. But her twin sister, Jesenia, picked up the slack and led everyone with 24 points on 10-of-17 shooting, and scored 13 of her points in the second half. Also contributing by pushing the ball up the court and taking it to the basket was freshman Jessica Gomez (Legacy HS), who finished with 11 points and a team-high 12 rebounds from her guard position.

Looking to add a presence on the inside, freshman Miranda Ta'amu (Los Alamitos HS) combined an outside jumper, along with an inside game to the tune of 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting, while pulling down seven rebounds. Off the bench, sophomore Alexis Clark (Mayfair HS) added 10 points and four boards, while Serena Rended finished with seven points and five rebounds before fouling out.

As a team, the Falcons out-rebounded the Roadrunners, 47-35 in the game.

Photos by Daryl Peterson