W. Basketball: Outside shooting leads Cerritos to 66-60 win

File Photo: Damarie Saldivar had 15 points and eight rebounds against East Los Angeles
File Photo: Damarie Saldivar had 15 points and eight rebounds against East Los Angeles

On Wednesday night, the Cerritos College women's basketball team connected on a season-high 10 three-pointers in a 66-60 South Coast Conference crossover win over visiting East Los Angeles College. The Falcons (8-10) will close out their conference crossover schedule on Friday at 5:00 p.m. when they host Mt. San Antonio College.

Despite all of the success Cerritos had from long range, the Huskies (4-15) were able to match, as they hit on 10 of their own three-pointers.

The Falcons scored the first nine points of the game, but by midway through the second quarter, East Los Angeles was able to take a 22-18 lead. Freshman Bridgette McIntyre (St. Anthony HS) hit one of her six three-pointers to get Cerritos back to within 22-21, while a basket from freshman Damarie Saldivar (Paramount HS) was followed by another McIntyre trey, which put Cerritos in front 26-22, which was the score at intermission.

Cerritos opened the second half by scoring the first 13 points to open a commanding 39-22 lead, with sophomore Ashley Miller (Paramount HS) making a pair of three-pointers and sophomore Brianna Flores (Norwalk HS) adding one of her own. However, the Huskies Marina Martinez led a comeback with a pair of three-pointers and drew to within 46-42 with 2:11 left in the third quarter. McIntyre ended the East LA rally with a three-pointer late in the quarter.

The Huskies took one last lead (50-49) early in the fourth quarter before the Falcons went on a 12-0 run to pull ahead 61-50 with 6:05 remaining. A three-pointer from Saldivar with 3:33 left would be the team's last points, but it gave them a 66-55 lead that held up until the end.

McIntyre led all scorers with 20 points and added three rebounds and three steals, while Saldivar had a solid all-around game. Along with her 15 points, she added eight rebounds, four assists and four steals, with Miller posting 12 points and four assists. Flores complimented her nine points, with solid defense, as she posted seven steals and pulled down six rebounds.