The Cerritos College women’s basketball team used a bombardment from downtown in second half to pull away from Pasadena City College Friday Jan. 15 resulting in a 67-40 win.
Freshman guard/forward Allyson O’Brien was held scoreless in the first half after one taking one shot in the first 20 minutes. However, it wasn’t just O’Brien who seemed a little tentative in shooting the basketball.
“We were a little bit but we wanted to work the ball around [but] I [didn’t] want us to be as passive, ” head coach Trisha Raniewicz said.
Although, the clock started to tick in the third quarter, all the shyness to pull the trigger seemed to go away as the team knocked down six of its 11 three-pointers. Four in the third quarter.
Raniewicz continued,“It absolutely opened the game for us but it’s not just on this end. Yeah, we made shots but we also made stops on the other end.”
O’Brien ended up with 15 points on the night, but she wasn’t the only person who shined in the win.
Sophomore guard Verenice Gomez scored 13 points in just 17 minutes of first half play.
“Today when I was shooting around I felt really good. My shots haven’t been falling lately but I guess today was my day to go off,” Gomez said.
Coach Raniewicz said that she felt Gomez was due for a game like this.
Following the crucial overtime loss at home to LA Trade Tech Wednesday, Jan. 13, Gomez took to twitter to express her frustration.
She stated, “Losing in OT is [the] worst.”
“I don’t want to lose again. Back-to-back losses ‘nuh-uh’ that’s not me,” Gomez added.
Her theory will be put to the test Wednesday Jan. 20 as the team travels to play 13-5 East LA.
The most interesting stat of the night resided in the rebounding category along Gomez’s stat line.
Gomez managed to reel in eight rebounds all while standing at just five feet and five inches tall.
“Coach is always on me about [rebounding] so I was like let me just go in and see what I can do,” Gomez said.
“But I don’t really like going in there because I’m scared to get hit,” Gomez said with a smile.
Despite her size the rebounding number was not surprising for Raniewicz.
“It’s just having a nose for the ball. I tell everybody it’s not just on the post players to rebound the ball, its everyone’s job,” Raniewicz said.
The lead was only 10 at halftime for Cerritos yet, the lead continued to grow when sophomore guard Clarissa Hernandez was running the offense.
“I think even our post players are capable of running [the break] more and that’s what makes me want to push the ball even more,” Hernandez said.
The team is often sitting in a half-court offensive set however, it may be changing to an up tempo juggernaut.
“I always want her to push it up and call a play but if we can get lay-ups, go get lay-ups. No coach is going to give up lay-ups,” Raniewicz said.
