In the first half of their South Coast Conference South Division win over visiting Los Angeles Harbor College, the Cerritos College women's basketball team opened up a commanding 43-16 lead at intermission. But poor ballhanding and questionable shot selection allowed the Seahawks to pull to within eight points in the fourth quarter before the Falcons came away with a 72-63 win on Wednesday. Cerritos (17-12, 5-2) holds a one-game lead for second place over Long Beach City College, with the two teams closing out the regular season with a 5:00 p.m. game in Long Beach on Friday.

Helping Cerritos jump out to their huge lead was freshman Serena Rendon (Carson HS), who scored 21 of her game-high 24 points in the first 20 minutes of the game. She drained five three-pointers, including three consecutive treys in the second quarter. Although her shot wasn't falling in the second half (1-for-7 FG), she received support from sophomore Alexis Clark (Mayfair HS), who accounted for 15 points and five rebounds on the night.

After the Seahawks pulled to within 67-61 with 2:11 left on the clock, freshman guard Gillian Yamasaki (South Torrance HS) hit a short baseline jumper. LA Harbor missed their final seven shots of the game, with the Falcons doing enough to pull out the win.

Freshman Jessica Gomez (Legacy HS) was the only player to score off the bench, but did finish with 11 points, with the duo of freshman Jesenia Rendon (Carson HS) and Miranda Ta'amu (Los Alamitos HS) each scoring nine points and combining for 13 rebounds. Jesenia Rendon also recorded a season-high eight assists.

Photos by Daryl Peterson