The Cerritos College women’s basketball team used a swarming defense to shut down El Camino College in the second half of their South Coast Conference South Division opener at El Camino on Friday night. The Falcons (16-8, 1-0) outscored the Warriors (7-13, 0-1), 35-13 in the second half and cruised to a 66-35 win. Cerritos will now take on cross town rival Long Beach City College on the road at 5:30 p.m. next Wednesday.

    One of the historic traits of the Falcon women’s basketball program is their balance, which was very evident in the victory. Three players scored in double figures, while all 11 players registered at least one rebound. Sophomore forwards Genesis Lewis (Paramount HS) and Maltresa Neely (Downey HS) each scored 14 points to lead the team, while Neely added 14 rebounds and three assists. The team out-rebounded El Camino, 57-32, with 24 coming on the offensive side.

    During their second half surge, in which the Falcons slowly pushed their lead to over 20 points and then 30, Lewis accounted for nine points, while Neely adding six. However, it was the overall play of freshmen Mercedes Taylor (Gahr HS) and Arielle McClellan (Paramount HS) that also surged the team. Taylor, who finished with eight points and a team-high 15 rebounds, worked both ends of the court, as did McClellan, who contributed 12 points.

    Off the bench, freshman Rachel Butler (Calvary Chapel HS) contributed nine points, four rebounds and three assists, while the defense limited the Warriors to just 21% shooting from the field.

    On a strange note, Cerritos didn’t register their first free throw attempt until their was just 3:45 left in the game, courtesy of a Neely three-point play.