The Cerritos College women’s basketball team fell victim to a hot-shooting Orange Coast team after playing a tight first half against a 4th seeded team and dropped their playoff game 55-47.

The loss in the 2nd Round of the Southern California Regional Playoffs ended the Falcons season at a 20-12 record.

Cerritos led at halftime, 25-23, despite shooting just 35% from the field. A tough Falcon defense limited the Pirates to just 28% field goal shooting, which contributed to their lead.

But Orange Coast found their touch in the second half, as they converted 8-of-15 or 53% of their field goals, including 4-of-6 from three-point terretory, which allowed them to post the victory and continue on their road to the state championships.

Trailing by six points late in the game, freshman guard April Lenssen hit a short jumper, before sophomore guard Marci Wong scored the next five points to cut the lead to 1 point for Orange coast with only 5:08 remaining.

Sophomore center Tiffany Amete hit a short jumper off an inbounds pass to give the Falcons a 46-45 lead with 2:52, but it would turn out to be the Falcon’s last lead of the game.

Orange Coast went on to outscore Cerritos, 10-1 the remainder of the game, which included a three-pointer by Liz Mendoza.

The Falcons missed their last five shots of the game to cap a disappointing final minutes in witch the iron was unkind to Cerritos.

Cerritos played the game without freshman guard Shannah Aiono, who missed the game with an ankle injury and was one of the team’s top three-point shooters

Freshman LaVonne Amete led the team with 15 points and nine rebounds, while sister Tiffany Amete added 10 points of her own and four boards.

Marci Wong who had seven points, three assists and April Lenssen who scored five points and brought down five rebounds had solid games for Cerritos.

Freshman forward Melissa Box added five points and six rebounds and also played well.

Cerritos played the game without freshman guard Shannah Aiono, who missed the game with an ankle injury and was one of the team’s top three-point shooters.