Although they were defeated, 68-62 by visiting Long Beach City College on Friday, the Cerritos College women's basketball team still holds a 1/2 game lead over the Vikings in the South Coast Conference South Division. The Falcons (16-8, 6-1) have three more divisional games remaining and will travel to El Camino College next Wednesday for a 7:00 p.m. game. LB City trails the Falcons by a 1/2 game, as they are currently 5-1 (17-6 overall).

It appeared as though the Falcons would be able to hold off Long Beach City, until Amanda Lopez came to life and scored 17 of her 19 points in the fourth quarter for the Vikings. 

After a pair of Precious Yerena (Downey HS) free throws with 7:38 left in the fourth quarter put the Falcons in front, 52-45, Lopez single-handedly pulled the Vikings ahead. Over the next 3:48, she scored the next seven points for LB City, who went in front, 53-52. When Lopez drained a three-pointer with 1:54 left, it gave the Vikings a 58-54 lead.

Over the course of the remainder of the game, the Falcons were just 2-for-5 from with field with a pair of turnovers. Forced to foul, it allowed the Vikings to go to the free throw line 12 times, where they converted 10 of them to close out the game.

Freshman Ilani Avila (Downey HS) led the team with 12 points off the bench to go with four rebounds before fouling out. The duo of Yerena and freshman Ashley Miller (Paramount HS) each added 10 points, with Yerena also recording eight rebounds and six steals. Freshman Izabella Apodaca (La Serna HS) ended with nine points and five rebounds before fouling out, with freshman Cynthia Estrada (John Glenn HS) recording eight points before committing her fifth foul.

Photos by Daryl Peterson