The Long Beach City College women's basketball improved its chances at receiving an at large bid into the postseason thanks to a crucial 57-55 South Coast Conference South Division win over rival Cerritos College on Wednesday night at the Hall of Champions Gym.
Long Beach is 16-10 overall and 4-3 in SCC South play heading into its regular-season finale at LA Southwest College on Friday. A victory over LA Southwest would put the Vikings in a second-place tie with Cerritos in the SCC South standings and according to LBCC head coach Michael Anderson, should earn Long Beach a spot in the playoffs.
On Wednesday, Long Beach was down 30-27 at halftime and trailed for a majority of the second. But a 10-0 run by the Vikings turned a four-point deficit into a 48-41 LBCC lead at the 4:38 mark.
The Vikings held that advantage until late. Cerritos' Cassidy Carrillo made a three-pointer with 44 seconds left to tie up the contest and eventually send it to overtime.
In the extra period, LBCC scored the first five points as sophomore Armani Wiley (Jordan HS) connected for a three-pointer and broke away for a layup. With 1:19 left in overtime, sophomore Darshana Taafua (Western HS) made one of two free throws to extend the LBCC lead to 57-55. Cerritos had its chances over the final minute, but the Falcons missed four free throws and a pair of jumpers that killed any chance of the comeback.
Taafua had a big game with 16 points and 20 rebounds while Wiley had a team-high 20 points to go with five assists and five steals.
