Women's basketball team pulls away, defeats Cerritos at home

Courtesy of On My Game Photography
Courtesy of On My Game Photography

Coming off its best win of the season earlier this week, Irvine Valley kept rolling on Friday at home, beating Cerritos, 74-30, in the first game of the IVC Crossover event.

The Lasers, ranked No. 11 in the state, went on the road and defeated No. 5 Pasadena City, 66-52, on Wednesday.

Friday's 44-point victory improved the Lasers' record to 9-1 overall. Cerritos slipped to 4-5.

Irvine Valley has now defeated three teams this season by 44 points or more.

Irvine Valley beat Grossmont by 55 points (105-50) on Nov. 2 and also took down Citrus by 44 (74-30) on Nov. 20.

Friday's game was close early on.

Cerritos led, 5-4, after a three-pointer by Melanie Lopez.

The Lasers answered with a 13-5 run and took a 17-10 lead on a layup by sophomore guard Anai Washington off an assist from freshman guard Jessica Suruor.

And IVC was up, 19-12, at the end of the first quarter.

But the Lasers pulled away after that. They limited Cerritos to just two points in the second quarter, out-scoring the Falcons, 16-2.

Irvine Valley took a 35-14 advantage into halftime and never looked back.

The Lasers scored 22 points in the third quarter to go ahead, 57-25, and they out-scored Cerritos, 17-5, in the fourth quarter.

The Lasers shot 45.8 percent (27 of 59) for the game, while Cerritos managed just 21.1 percent (12 of 57) from the floor.

Irvine Valley out-rebounded Cerritos, 52-35, and the Lasers had 20 assists on their 27 made baskets.

Washington finished with 19 points and eight rebounds and freshman forward Kaitlyn Luu had a nice game, ending with 13 points, 11 rebounds and three steals.

Twelve plays in all scored for Irvine Valley. Suruor, freshman guard Morgan Higgins, freshman guard Danielle Silva and freshman forward Gabby Samiy each added six points. Higgins also had five assists and three steals in the win.

Cerritos was pacd by Nicole Lizarraga, who had nine points and four rebounds.

Irvine Valley plays again on Saturday, taking on Barstow at 6 p.m.

In the opener on Saturday, Rio Hondo takes on Cerritos at 4 p.m.

Rio Hondo defeated Barstow, 82-30, in the first game on Friday.