BASKETBALL PLAYOFFS : Cerritos Makes Exit on Ventura Highway : Southern California Women’s Regional: In fast lane early, Pirates eliminate Falcons, 70-52.

VENTURA — Fans attending the Ventura College women’s basketball playoff game on Saturday night against Cerritos yelled one thing over and over: “Warm up the bus!”

It indicated that the game was so one-sided, Cerritos better pack its bags and hit the road. The loud chanting started with more than five minutes remaining in the first half.

Indeed, Ventura disposed of its Southern California Regional final opponent quickly, 70-52, in front of a capacity crowd of 3,400 at the Ventura gym.

The Pirates (27-2) advance to the State Final Eight tournament at Orange Coast College beginning Thursday.

“Our plan was to come out hard from the beginning and not let up,” said Ventura freshman guard Tori Anderson, who had 12 points. “And we came out with great momentum.”

Ventura dominated Cerritos (22-11) from the start, forcing a series of turnovers and horrible shots by the Falcons, who seemed overwhelmed and at times lost.

Cerritos scored only three times in the first seven minutes and later went scoreless for six minutes.

The dry spurt helped Ventura take a 22-8 lead with 7:17 left in the first half.

The Falcons made only one basket in the final 13 minutes of the half and committed 21 of their 33 turnovers before halftime.

Cerritos missed shots from the outside, from the inside. The Falcons missed layups. You name the shot, Cerritos missed it.

“You have to give them credit,” Cerritos Coach Karen Noel said, “They played very good, but we didn’t play very well in the first half. I really don’t know why.

“Scoring isn’t even how they hurt us most. Their defensive pressure really gave us problems. That really hurt us badly.’

Cerritos trailed, 35-11, at the half. The Falcons played much better in the second half, but it was too late.

The closest Cerritos came was 14 points with 8:51 left. The Pirates soon rebuilt the lead to 60-40 when Julie Hardy, who had 21 points, made an 18-foot jumper with 6:20 left.

“Cerritos did the same thing tonight that we did against Trade Tech in our first-round game,” Ventura Coach Ned Mircetic said.

“I think it was a great time for them to do it. It’s nice to see someone else play like that instead of us.”

Babita Singh had 17 points for Cerritos.