MARAUDER WOMEN'S BASKETBALL FALLS TO CERRITOS IN REGIONALS

Photo by Ed Beyer, PhD

LANCASTER - The Marauder women's basketball team was defeated, 62-58 by Cerritos, in the opening round of the Southern California Regional bracket of the state playoffs, Wednesday at Marauder Gymnasium.

Shantanel Bivens led AVC with 22 points on 9-of-17 shooting and 15 rebounds. Deja Smith finished with 17 points and seven rebounds.

The Marauders had a poor shooting night as they finished only 31 percent (22-of-71) from the field and were only 7-of-35 from 3-point range.

AVC trailed 20-14 after the first quarter but led 30-27 at halftime as it outscored the Falcons 16-7 in the second quarter. Cerritos rallied in the third quarter to take a 45-38 lead after three quarters following an 18-8 quarter. In the third, the Marauders were 3-of-16 from the field and 1-of-9 from beyond the arc.

Cerritos led 58-47 midway through the fourth quarter and 60-47 with less than three minutes remaining as AVC couldn't respond. The Falcons were able to maintain their lead much of the final 10 minutes.

"We could have done much better. We had second chance opportunities, but they weren't going in. I don't feel like they were better than us," said AVC's Aniyah Terry. "I know we could have pulled this game out, our shots just weren't going in. This is a tough loss for us. With games like this, we should have won. I thought our defense played well. This was a good experience for us."

The Marauders' bench was outscored 10-0 by the Falcons. AVC's largest lead was six with just under six minutes to play in the third quarter.

AVC's season ends with a 15-14 record, while Cerritos plays the top ranked Palomar in its next game.