Cougars Lose Late at L.A Valley 54-50

VALLEY GLEN, Calif. — The College of the Canyons women's basketball team could not hang on to a slim two-point lead in its 54-50 road loss to Los Angeles Valley College on Saturday night.

The Cougars held a two-point lead with 2:46 left in the game, but could not hold off an 8-2 Monarchs run in the final minutes of regulation.

Early on, however, the Cougars came out on fire with a 10-1 run from the opening tipoff.

Three of the Cougar starters — Julie Ilsby, Hannah Green and Monica Freidl — scored in the opening action to put COC up by nine points after six minutes of play.

Valley quickly responded with a 9-0 run of its own to tie the game at 10-10. The lead would change hands eight times in the first half, with each team trading baskets up to the halftime buzzer with the game tied at 24-24.

Friedl led the Cougars in the first half scoring 10 of her 22 points in the first half on 5-of-9 shooting from the field.

The second half also saw both teams trade baskets. The Cougars went up by as many as five points in the second half via a Friedl jumper with seven-and-a-half minutes to go.

But the Cougars lead — as with most leads in this game — was brief.

With the game tied at 46 apiece, Friedl hit two free throws to give Canyons its final lead of the game.

Just 30-seconds later, a crushing Monarch three-pointer put L.A. Valley ahead for good, as they eventually won 54-50. 

Friedl finished the game with 22 points, six rebounds, three steals and three blocks.

Qimmah Russo added 13 points off the bench before fouling out in 27 minutes.

The loss puts head coach Greg Herrick's Cougars at 14-11 overall and 4-6 in Western State Conference, South play with just four games left on the schedule.

The Cougars will next travel to Glendale College at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 11.