W. Basketball: Lauryn Nakamura named Freshman of the Year

Lauryn Nakamura was voted the SCC South Division Freshman of the Year
Lauryn Nakamura was voted the SCC South Division Freshman of the Year

In a season where the Cerritos College women's basketball team was limited to just six players due to injury, four of them received All-South Coast Conference South Division recognition. Top of that list was Lauryn Nakamura (Cypress HS), who was not only named 1st Team, but also voted the division's Freshman of the Year. It's the second time in three seasons that a Falcon has received the award, as Damarie Saldivar was named the Freshman of the Year during the 2022-23 season.

Also named to the 1st Team were sophomores Jayden Estrada (Anaheim HS) and Francine Carrillo (Cerritos HS), with freshmen Mia Avalos (Pioneer HS) and Natalie Poppin (La Habra HS) receiving 2nd Team accolades.

Nakamura led the team in scoring (11.8 ppg) on the year, while she was also second on the team in assists per game (3.5 apg) and third with 5.0 rebounds per game. She connected on 37.8% of her field goals,, which included a team-leading 110-for-291 in field goals made and attempted. She scored a season-high 21 points against both Pasadena City College and Los Angeles Harbor College, while she checked in with 20 points against Grossmont College. Nakamura also finished with nine rebounds and six assists against LA Harbor, while she had seven boards in six other games and dished out a season-high eight assists in the Pasadena City game.

Estrada averaged 9.8 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists a game, while she was third on the team with 28 three-pointers made. She also led the team in free throw percentage at 81.6 (40-for-49). Estrada has consecutive 20-point games against Long Beach City College and Pasadena City College, while she also scored 18 points against Santa Monica College. Estrada also pulled in a season-high eight rebounds against Porterville College and dished out nine assists against Compton College.

Although her scoring dipped in the last three games of the season, Carrillo supplemented that with her rebounding. She finished the year averaging 5.9 points and 7.7 rebounds a game, which included eight games of more than 10 boards. She had a seven-game stretch where she averaged 10.9 per game, which included a season-high 15 rebounds against El Camino College. Carrillo scored a season-high 16 points against Compton College.

Poppin (6.3 ppg) and Avalos (6.8 ppg) tied for the team lead with 30 three-pointers on the season, which helped them provide quick offense for the Falcons. They both averaged 2.4 rebounds a game, with Poppin scoring in double figures six times, which included 19 points against El Camino College and knocked down four three-pointers. As for Avalos, she scored in double digits seven times and recorded 19 points against both Compton College and Los Angeles Harbor College. She drained five three-pointers in the Compton game.