LuLu Salloom Earns Second All-State Nod, Lady Cougs Have Three on All-WSC Squad

By Jesse Muñoz/COC Sports Information Director  

College of the Canyons sophomore forward LuLu Salloom was named to the California Community College Women's Basketball Coaches Association (CCCWBCA) All-State team for a second straight season in addition to being one of three Lady Cougars who earned All-Western State Conference (WSC), South Division honors.

Salloom is a CCCWBCA All-State Second-Team honoree after a season in which she finished second in the state with 16.4 rebounds per game and topped 800 career rebounds during her two-year career. Those marks came with a rate of 4.4 offensive boards per game, again the conference's top position 

The 6'0" forward pulled down 400 rebounds as a freshman and has registered 409 through the end of the 2022-23 regular season.

Salloom, who starred at Saugus High School, is one of three two-time All-State players in program history. She joins Kyetra Brown (1994-95, 1996-97) and Leslie Ortiz (2005-06, 2006-07) in holding that distinction. 

In addition to her rebounding prodigy, Salloom was second on the Cougars with 13.0 points per game, which ranked No. 8 in the conference. Her season totals also included 2.9 assists, 1.5 blocks and 2.0 steals each night.

She logged starts in all 25 games played with 10 or more points in 18 of those contests and scored a season-high 24 points on two occasions. 

Meanwhile, Salloom posted double-digit rebound totals in all but two contests, with 20 or more in seven games. Her season-high of 28 came vs. Chabot College on Dec. 2. 

Canyons finished third in the Western State Conference (WSC), South Division standings behind conference champ Glendale College (23-5, 13-1) and runner-up L.A. Valley (20-8, 12-2). The Lady Cougars won five of its final six games down the stretch before falling at Glendale in the regular season finale.

Those results helped Canyons qualify for the postseason for the 26th time in program history, and first under first year head coach John Wissmath. No. 18 Canyons (17-10, 11-3) vs. No. 15 Rio Hondo (15-13, 4-4) will tip off at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 22.

Joining Salloom on the All-WSC, South team are guards Monique Febles and Hannah Tolentino.

Monique Febles / All-WSC, South Division
Febles started in all 23 games she played while leading the Cougars in scoring at a rate of 13.8 per game alongside 3.2 assists, 6.1 rebounds and 2.0 steals. The sophomore out if Saugus High School was seventh on the conference in scoring and shot just under 39 percent for the season. Febles was second on the team with 36.6 minutes played each night and was a key catalyst to the offense every time Canyons took the floor. She scored a season-high 23 points at Antelope Valley on Jan. 14 and topped double-digits in all but five games. Febles recorded seven assists in a game on three occasions and her 6.1 rebounds per night, as a guard, ranked second behind Salloom. She also earned All-WSC, South Division honors as a freshman.

Hannah Tolentino / All-WSC, South Division
Tolentino was a force as the Lady Cougars third scoring option, averaging 10.8 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.1 assists in her first season with the program. The guard from St. Genevieve High School jumped to 13.5 points per game vs. conference competition and posted a season-high 28 points vs. L.A. Valley on Jan. 28. She tied for the team lead with a 31.4 percent shooting rate from three-point territory and also shot 48.5 percent from the floor to lead Canyons and rank third in the WSC, South.

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 courtesy of Robert Hanashiro