Canyons Travels to Mt. SAC for Annual Tip-Off Tourney

The COC women's basketball team is set to start its 2015-16 season by competing in the 2015 Mt. SAC Tip-Off Tournament running Nov. 6-8.

Canyons will face Long Beach City College in opening round action, with that game scheduled to start at 3 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 6.

Also competing at the annual tournament are host Mt. SAC, Laney, Saddleback, San Bernardino Valley, San Diego and Rio Hondo College.

Games will continue throughout the day on Saturday, with matchups determined by Friday's results.

In 2014-15 Canyons finished the regular season with a 16-13 overall record and 6-8 mark against conference opponents to place sixth in the Western State Conference, South Division. The team failed to qualify for the postseason for the first time in 22 seasons.

Head coach Greg Herrick will return five players from last year's squad including sophomore forward Monica Friedl, who earned 1st Team All-WSC honors while leading the Cougars with 14.3 points and 9.4 rebounds per game last season. Her 41 blocks also lead the team.

The six-foot-tall Canyon High School graduate started 27 of 29 games for the Cougars, and led the team in minutes played at roughly 20 per game.

In COC's final six games of the regular season Freidl scored 20 or more points five times. She also averaged 19.6 points per game vs. WSC opponents.

With the benefit of having gained such valuable game experience, the future looks bright for Friedl and the Cougars in 2015-16.

Also returning as sophomores in 2015-16 are guards Vikki Martinez, Hhala Hosn and Tamara Smith and forward Hannah Green.

Green, a West Ranch High School grad, averaged 7.5 points per game in her freshman campaign at COC to rank fifth on the team in scoring. In addition, her 5.8 rebounds per contest were third best for the Cougars, despite being limited to just 10 games due to injury.

The program will also welcome nine freshman, including six-foot-inch forward Victoria Uhatafe from St. Petersburg, Florida and freshman guard Cierra O'Brien who hails from Nanakuli, Hawaii.

The Cougars will participate in five regular season tournaments before beginning conference play at Santa Monica College on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2016.

Canyons will host Glendale College in its home opener at 5 p.m. Wednesday, Jan 13.