Canyons Gets Past Bakersfield 80-66 in Regular Season Finale

By Jesse Muñoz/COC Sports Information Director

College of the Canyons continued to formulate its response to a two-game conference losing streak earlier in the month with an 80-66 home win over Bakersfield College, marking the Cougars' third straight win to close out the regular season on Friday.

The win came on 'Sophomore Night' at the Cougar Cage with the program honoring its four sophomore players — Diamyn Davis, Danni Diaz, Malia Semana and Justice Walters — with a brief pregame ceremony. 

Walters had perhaps the performance of the night going 4-of-7 from three-point territory en route to a team-high 23 points. The sophomore also pulled down 11 rebounds, eight off the offensive glass, to go with eight assists. 

That rebounding total represented Walters' first double-digit finish of the season and provided a big boost for a Cougars' team that was playing in a must win situation to stay in the hunt for a playoff spot. 

LuLu Salloom finished the game with 22 points, seven rebounds and five assists and continued to show her defensive prowess with five steals and a pair of blocks.

Monique Febles was particularly efficient vs. the Renegades, shooting 6-of-9 from the field and 2-of-3 from behind the arc to finish with 17 points. Her five assists and four steals also contributed heavily to COC's fast-paced style of play.

Semana finished with 10 points and four assists with a pair of big three-point shots that helped swing, and keep, the momentum in COC's favor during the first half.

The Cougars had built a 43-30 lead heading into the halftime locker room and outscored Bakersfield in three of the four quarters.

COC shot just under 46 percent from the field and roughly 74 percent from the foul line. The Cougars were 8-of-12 from downtown to help create an edge in the scoring.

Canyons (19-7, 8-4) has used its current three-game streak to move into a tie with this same Bakersfield (19-6, 8-4) team for second place in the Western State Conference (WSC), South Division standings. Both teams sit behind conference champion Glendale College (19-5, 10-2) after splitting the season series. COC lost a 78-72 2OT result in Bakersfield on Jan. 26.

COC opened the season with an eight-game win streak and also enjoyed a four-game stretch of success that came after dropping its conference opener to L.A. Valley on Jan. 5.

The current string of victories has come after back-to-back home losses vs. LAVC and Glendale to begin the month.

Conversely, the Renegades' loss to the Cougars snapped a four-game streak for Bakersfield. The Gades will conclude their regular season schedule on Feb. 23 with a non-conference game vs. Santa Barbara City College.

Both COC and Bakersfield will be looking to earn a playoff berth as the conference's second place finisher. Playoff seeding is expected to be announced the week of Feb. 28

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. 

—Photo by Mari Kneisel/COC Sports Information