The Cerritos College women’s basketball team lost in the second round of playoffs against Palomar College, 58-84.
Previously beating the 16th seed Antelope Valley College in an away first round of playoffs, the Falcons (seeded 17) traveled to challenge the No. 1 seed Palomar for the second round of playoffs.
Starting the first half of the game the Falcons were only able to score 28 points while Palomar put up 44 points, the Cerritos ended the first half with a 16 point deficit.
Following the first half performance, the Falcons were capable of adding 30 points to the first half score at the end of the second half, but was outscored by Palomar College who added 40 points.
Freshman forward/center No. 33 Miranda Ta’amu reflected on her last game of the season, “I didn’t play to my full potential, I wish I did, but I had an off game. I let my frustration of not getting any calls get the best of me.
“As a whole the team played hard. There were so many opportunities to win the game, but Palomar just had more runs than we did.”
She continued, “And towards the end of the game the gap was just too big to recover from that, everyone was a bit fatigued.”
Ta’amu had four points and four rebounds at the end of the game against Palomar.
The Falcons were out rebounded 52-36 and Palomar shot 30-82 on field goals, while Cerritos only shot 20-52.
This playoff game was the return of the team’s leading scorer—freshman shooting guard No. 24 Serena Rendon after sitting out the first round due to an injury.
Rendon was named freshman of the year in the South Coast Conference South Division this season, she was also named 3rd Team All-State and is the first Falcon freshman to be named All-State since 1999.
Rendon also set a record this season for the most three-pointers in a season connecting on 96 triples in her first season at Cerritos College.
Rendon said, “It was a pretty successful season. Not all teams get to make playoffs and we made it. 18-14 isn’t bad, of course we could’ve done better. As a team we’ve overcame many obstacles.
She continued, “Coming in as a freshman I didn’t think I’d have a big impact on this team, I definitely doubted myself. Over the summer in my head I would say ‘I’m not that good for college basketball. These girls are going to be better than me.’
“After this season, accomplishing what I did was amazing. I didn’t know I can have such an impact on a team,” Rendon said.
Rendon finished the final game of her freshman season with 25 points and four rebounds.
Rendon ended with, “Next season I hope to go undefeated in conference, it’s a big goal, but I’m ready to motivate and encourage my teammates to accomplish it.”
The Cerritos College women’s basketball team ended the 2017-18 season 18-14, tied for second place in conference and made it to the second round of playoffs.
