The Cerritos College women’s basketball team won its first playoff match away against Antelope Valley College, 62-58.
This playoff victory against Antelope Valley was the first since the 2011-12 season where the Falcons beat College of the Canyons.
Freshman forward/center No. 33 Miranda Ta’amu said that the Falcons stayed together for all 40 minutes of the game, which was a huge part of the victory against Antelope Valley.
“We never let what Antelope Valley did good, determine how we played the game,” said Ta’amu
The team went into this playoff game without one of their star players— freshman shooting guard No. 24 Serena Rendon due to injury.
Serena has, has been averaging 17 points per game this season and is the leading scorer for the Falcons.
“Serena is definitely a huge contributor for our team, but we knew going into that game that we weren’t going to have her. We all just tried to focus on filling in the gaps,” said Ta’amu.
She elaborated, “Meaning everyone had to score a bit more or defend a bit harder because we’re down one teammate.”
Ta’amu said, “There’s definitely a difference without her, but everyone knows one person isn’t a team. Our whole team has the capability to score and defend.”
Playing without her twin sister this game, freshman point guard No. 20 Jesenia Rendon managed to lead the team to a solid victory.
Jesenia finished her first college playoff game with 25 points, six rebounds and two assists.
Following Jesenia’s performance, other noticeable performances were also brought to Antelope Valley—by sophomore guard No. 2 Angie Ferreira who ended with 10 points and three rebounds, Ta’amu who finished with eight points and eight rebounds and sophomore forward No. 15 Alexis Clark, as she put up seven points, five rebounds and three assists.
No. 15 Alexis Clark drives the ball against a Long Beach City College defender in a game on Feb. 16. Clark had seven points and five rebounds in the team’s playoff win at Antelope Valley College on Feb. 21.
Ta’amu said, “I think the team played super hard, probably one of our best games as a whole. Especially with Serena down everyone stepped up knowing that her points needed to be made up somehow.
“I feel like I played hard and helped out in ways that mattered, like rebounding and keeping the other teams big off the boards.”
The Falcons scored 27 points in the first half of the game, scoring 20 points in the first and seven more points in the second quarter.
While Antelope Vally scored 30 points in the first half, 14 in the first and 16 in the second quarter.
The women’s basketball team followed its first half performance by adding 35 points in the second half, with 18 points in the third and 17 points in the final quarter of the match.
Antelope Valley added 28 points in the second half.
Ta’amu ended with, “I hope we bring that same vibe of togetherness, as well as the mentality that even though they’re ranked way higher than us, we can still beat them.”
The team won the game by four points and advance into the second round of playoffs.
The Falcons are up against the number one seed Palomar College next in the second round of playoffs, they play away on Feb. 24.
