Three hundred and sixty-four days have passed since the women’s basketball team had its season come to an end at the hands of Irvine Valley.

A fate that happened to repeat itself Friday, Feb. 26 as the team lost 64-49 to the Lasers.

Sophomore guard Clarissa Hernandez said, “It’s been an amazing journey having coach Karen [Welliver], someone like a motherly figure and coach Trish [Raniewicz], was a fighter.

“They are two totally different people but they both had an influence on my life especially as a student-athlete.”

Hernandez was one of the sophomores on the team that had felt that same experience almost one-year prior.

Former head coach Karen Welliver was in attendance as well, she said prior to the game she was confident the Falcons would be able to come away with the win.

“We had all these returners so I know they don’t want to have that happen again,” she said.

She also said the 42-18 deficit at halftime for Cerritos was just a matter of shots not falling and Irvine Valley being red hot from the field.

The Falcons shot 1-of-17 from three-point and 7-of-36 from the field in the first half.

Freshman guard Allyson O’Brien had 12 of the team’s 18 in the first half.

“We were wide-open we just didn’t knock them down […] [IVC’s] defense was pretty good I think it caught us off-guard,” she said.

It was a scary moment in the second quarter as sophomore guard Janel Oliver took a tumble and hit the back of her head on the hardwood floor.

She would leave the game and return with no concussion.

“She pushed off and I tripped and hit my head trying to roll, I guess. That’s what they told me. I remember hitting my head but I don’t remember rolling,” she said.

In high school Oliver was injured in the second round playoff game, in the second quarter of a game in which her team lost much like this one.

She admitted that after that game she said she would never play basketball again so she does not know what her future holds.

Following the loss the team was seen embracing one another and even shedding a few tears.

Raniewicz knows that this team has gained something much more valuable over the last two seasons.

“Family. I told them that they got this program to its 29th playoff appearance and that means something. And the friendships [the players] have gotten these two years are something they can take with them,” she finished.