Guard Maleta Daughtery was held to 11 points after scoring 23 just days before, the Cerritos College women’s basketball team shot 25 percent and Mt. SAC proved why it is the top-seeded defending state champion after eliminating the Falcons, 76-51, last Saturday.

Saturday’s match-up marked the third meeting the schools had this season.

The Mounties finished 3-0 versus the Falcons.

The Mounties took the life out of the Falcons early allowing 16 points in the first half going into halftime leading, 31-16.

Mt. SAC set the pace from the beginning and shut down guards Daughtery and Cecily Garcia.

“When you have players like (Garcia) and (Daughtery), you need a game plan.

“Players like that, you can’t stop, you can only slow down,” Mt. SAC head coach Laura Beeman said.

The lead by the Mounties progressed as the game went on and led by many as 31 points.

Falcons were able to pull to a 16 point deficit late in the game but wasn’t enough to overcome the lead Mt. SAC set.

Cerritos head coach Karen Welliver said, “We feel good about how we competed.”

Forward Vanessa Faagata led Cerritos with 12 points and eight rebounds and Daughtery was right behind her with 11 points and four rebounds.

Welliver finished the season racking up her sixth SCC coach of the year award and was also named the all-time winningest coach earlier this season.

“I don’t care about the awards.  I coach for the players,” Welliver said.

“Mt. SAC is a heck of a team and our players didn’t stop,” Welliver added.

With three sophomores parting ways, there will be 10 potential returners for the Falcons including Daughtery and Faagata.

“I’m just disappointed that I’m going to have to face (Daughtery) next season,” Beeman said.