Lady Cougars Open Season at Ventura-Kiwanis Tourney

by Jesse Muñoz/COC Sports Information Director 

VENTURA, Calif. — College of the Canyons opened the 2019-20 season at the annual three-day Ventura-Kiwanis tourney hosted by Ventura College, with the Cougars able to post a dominating day-two victory before finishing the weekend 1-2 overall. 

Canyons fell 69-45 to Long Beach City College in its season opener, despite trailing by just a single point heading into halftime. However, the Vikings pulled away in the third quarter by outscoring the Lady Cougars 25-7 during that span.

COC sophomore McKenzie Stoehr led the team with 11 points on a 5-of-14 shooting night. Sophomore Cristian Patron finished with eight points and a team-high eight rebounds. Krystal Amato recorded four assists, three blocks and two steals.

Canyons bounced back in a big way on day two, jumping all over Taft College (1-6) for an eventual 122-38 final score. COC limited Taft to single-digit point totals in the first two quarters to establish a 68-14 halftime advantage. 

Once again it was Stoehr leading the way with a career-high 39 points. Stoehr was 8-of-15 from three-point territory. Patron also had another big night, finishing with 22 points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals. Freshman forward Diamyn Davis scored 18 points to go with eight boards. Danny Diaz pulled down 12 rebounds to lead the team while Amato dished out 13 assists. 

COC tallied 24 steals in the game while out-rebounding Taft 62-41. The Lady Cougars combined to shoot better than 52 percent from the field. 

Canyons then came up on the wrong end of 71-67 final score vs. conference rival Santa Monica College (2-4) on Saturday. The Cougars received another stellar performance from Stoehr, who led all scorers with 23 points, but ultimately had its 13-point halftime lead evaporate in a game which saw COC commit 19 turnovers. The Cougars were outscored 49-32 over the final 20 minutes of play.

Stoehr had another strong shooting night, finishing 8-of-12 and 5-of-8 from behind the arc. Patron finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds, while Davis chipped in with 11 points. Amato recorded eight assists to go with eight rebounds. 

COC is back in action Dec. 5-7 at the 43rd Annual Gilcrest Tournament hosted by College of the Sequoias.

Canyons will host its first home game at 5 p.m. Friday, Dec. 20 vs. Pasadena City College. That contest will be played at the MacArthur Center located on The Master's University campus in Newhall.

Stay up to date on all this season's action by following the College of the Canyons Athletic department on social media at @COCathletics on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.