With only five players to turn to in their games, due to multiple injuries, the Cerritos College women's basketball team suffered a 57-42 loss to visiting Fullerton College on Friday night. The Falcons (2-9), who are anxiously awaiting on as many as the four injured players to be cleared the play, will host Los Angeles Mission College at 5:00 p.m. next Friday.

In the first half, Cerritos was able to stay close to the Hornets (5-5), as freshman Justine Lucero (South El Monte HS) scored five of the team's seven points in a row to close out the first quarter and trailed just 10-9.

With time running out in the first half, freshman Destiny Elmore (La Mirada HS) knocked down a three-pointer to draw the team even 16-16 with 3:22 remaining in the clock. Cerritos went into halftime down, 20-18.

But the second half was a different story, as Fullerton started double-teaming the inbound play and forced three 10-second violations. They also forced several turnovers, which generated more points for the Hornets.

It was a 33-20 score midway through the third period until sophomore Lauryn Nakamura (Cypress HS) scored five points and Lucero added four more, with the team getting to within 35-29 with 1:27 left in the stanza. Including the start of the fourth quarter, Fullerton went on an 8-0 run that allowed them to put some distance in their lead.

Nakamura finished the game with 19 points, while Lucero posted 12 points with four rebounds and four steals. Freshman Emily Gonzalez (La Mirada HS) pulled down 11 rebounds and added five steals with freshman Maya Aceves (Garfield HS) recording four points and five rebounds. The three-pointer from Elmore was her only basket of the game, while she also added two rebounds.

Photos by Daryl Peterson