COC Women’s Basketball Pulls Down Multiple Conference Awards
College of the Canyons women’s basketball team collected four all-conference awards following the Cougar’s perfect 12-0 conference season as well as a sweep of the conference’s top two honors in Coach of the Year for Greg Herrick and Most Valuable Player for sophomore guard Ashley Wakefield.
SANTA CLARITA, Calif. – College of the Canyons women's basketball team collected four all-conference awards following the Cougar's perfect 12-0 conference season as well as a sweep of the conference's top two honors in Coach of the Year for Greg Herrick and Most Valuable Player for sophomore guard Ashley Wakefield.
"Ashley's unanimous selection mirrored what we thought from day one: that Ashley Wakefield was, without question, the best player in the conference," said College of the Canyons head women's basketball coach Greg Herrick. "She was dominant and teams were changing their defense to deal, specifically, with her. That is probably the ultimate compliment to a player and I'm sure glad that she was on our team and we didn't have to prepare for her."
Wakefield, a Washington Prep High School alum, led the conference in scoring with 18.7 ppg, field goal percentage (58 percent), rebounds (12.9 rpg), and fourth in steals (2.7 spg). This season, the sophomore tallied a triple-double in the game against Bakersfield (1/13) when she garnered 15 points, 19 rebounds and 10 assists. She notched a total of 22 double-doubles in the Cougars' 27-game schedule.
Wakefield is the sixth Cougar to be named the conference MVP. She follows a group of talented players from College of the Canyons that also received the same honor – Rebekah Cunnan in 1994, Kyetra Brown in 1995, La Cresha Clark in 1997, Zevette Mitchell in 1998, Sha'Tasha Allen in 2000, and Leslie Ortiz in 2006 and 2007.
Herrick, in his 18th season, coached the Cougars to their 12th conference title and their eighth perfect conference season. This is the eighth time that Herrick has received the Coach of the Year honors.
Other Cougars who were named to the all-conference team include:
Sophomore Guard Samantha Cross (10.1 ppg, 1.8 apg, 1.5 rpg)
Sophomore Forward Joslynn Frazier (14.8 ppg, 11.6 rpg)
Sophomore Guard Ashley Wakefield (18.7 ppg, 12.9 rpg, 2.7 spg)
Freshman Guard Kelli Lewis (12.2 ppg, 5.0 apg) Led conference in assists.