Despite a late surge by the The Cerritos College women’s basketball team, thanks mainly went to the three-point shooting from Nicole McCarthy yet the team was unable to overcome the L.A. Southwest Cougars and lost, 76-70.

The Falcons found themselves down by 23 points at halftime against Los Angeles Southwest in their South Coast Conference South Division finale.

“Everyone was doing their own thing and we weren’t working together,” Tiffany Amete said in recognition of the biggest reason why the falcons got off to a bad start in the game and why they eventually lost.

After one of the toughest halves in recent years, the Falcons mounted a comeback in the final five minutes. McCarthy, who drained six three-pointers on the night, nailed three straight to cut the lead under 10 points.

Coupled with some tight defense and the sudden success of their jump shots, the Falcons were able to close the gap to four points, before the Cougars connected on their free throws late in the game. McCarthy finished with a season-high 22 points and also added four rebounds and four assists.

With the setback, Cerritos 19-11, 7-3 and LA Southwest finished the division tied for second place, with Compton coming in first place.

Earlier in the week, the Falcons received 16 points from Tiffany Amete, as the team cruised to a 73-47 win over El Camino.

Sam Black had 14 points for El Camino who fell to 13-14 and 3-6 in conference play.

Claudia Rodriguez and April Lenssen each added nine points, while LaVonne Amete and Shannah Aiono each finished with eight points.

Cerritos controlled the boards in that game, as well, as they pulled down 53 rebounds, compared to just 24 for the Warriors.

El Camino did not record their first offensive rebound until there were five minutes left in the game, while the Falcons had grabbed 19 offensive rebounds.

After going 1-1 in the week, the Falcons will enter the Southern California Regionals this week ranked 13th at 19-11 and 7-3 in conference and will host #20 Santa Monica 17-14 on Saturday at 7:30.

With a win, Cerritos will face #4, Orange Coast College 25-7 who has a bye for the first round of the tournament.

Despite the Friday loss the Falcon morale is high, “we are capable of great things no matter whom we face,” Tiffany Amete said about their chances in the tournament and their opponent.