Squaring off against a much taller San Diego Mesa team on Friday, the Cerritos College women's basketball team dropped a 61-34 non-conference game. The Falcons (2-9) will now enter the Colleen Riley Holiday Crossover Tournament next week and face Porterville College at 3:00 p.m. on Thursday.

The Olympians (7-4) were able to score 40 of their 61 points in the paint, as the Falcons were also without sophomore Melana Goodloe (Warren HS), who averages 10 points and 11 rebounds a game. Cerritos found themselves trailing early and every time they were able to hit a shot, San Diego Mesa was right there to counter and then took advantage of their size.

Looking to make up for the loss of Goodloe was sophomore Miah Nayback (La Serna HS), who pulled down a season-high eight rebounds and also posted six steals the lead the team defensively. Sophomore b (Paramount HS) scored a team-high 10 points and added five rebounds. By contrast, San Diego Mesa had four players score in double-digits.

Freshman Francine Carrillo (Cerritos HS) contributed six points and five rebounds, with freshman Jayden Estrada (Anaheim HS) added five points and six rebounds. After scoring 26 points against Los Angeles Pierce College two days earlier, freshman Rayne Rodriguez (La Serna HS) was limited to just one point, but did add four rebounds and three steals for the Falcons.

Photos by Daryl Peterson