Courtesy COC Sports Information

The College of the Canyons women’s basketball team has caught fire in recent weeks, with head coach Greg Herrick and the Lady Cougars finishing the first half of the season with a record of 10-4, having won five straight.

Additionally, Canyons has won eight of its last nine games to wrap up the non-conference portion of their schedule.

Canyons ended 2015 by winning the annual East Los Angeles College (ELAC) Husky Classic Tournament held Dec. 27-29.

That tourney win was capped by an 80-79 victory over Mission College of Santa Clara in the championship game, with COC sophomore Monica Friedl sinking a game-winning free throw with .03 left on the clock to lift Canyons.

Friedl, who was named tournament MVP, finished the contest with 19 points and 15 rebounds.

Adding to that winning effort was sophomore Hannah Green, who scored 21 points and pulled down a remarkable 27 rebounds to fall just three short of establishing a new school record. Green, who was named to the all tourney team, also registered five blocks in the contest.

However, the ‘Husky Classic’ tournament crown was COC’s second of the season, with the Lady Cougars also having won the Solano College Showdown hosted by Solano College Dec. 11-13.

At that event, Canyons won each of its three games by a margin of at least 20 points, including a dominant 83-63 performance over Chabot College in the championship game.

This time it was Green who earned tournament MVP honors, with Friedl and freshman Sara Ward also named to the All-Tournament team.

Friedl currently leads Canyons in scoring, averaging 19.7 points per game. Ward and Green follow averaging 10.9 and 10.4 points per game, respectively.

Meanwhile, Green leads the team in field goal percentage, shooting 55 percent from the field in 14 games played this season.

Friedl and Green have also had a major impact on the boards. Green leads the team with 12.6 rebounds per game, while Friedl averages 11.5 per contest. Green is currently ranked fifth in the state in that category.

The two forwards have also been impressive defensively. Green leads the state with an astounding 5.3 blocks per game and Friedl is averaging 2.1 rejections per game.

Friedl, Green and the rest of the Lady Cougars will begin 2016 by diving into the Western State Conference, South schedule.

Canyons opens up WSC play on Wednesday, Jan. 6, when the Lady Cougars travel to face Santa Monica (4-10).

Herrick will then take his team north to face Bakersfield College (1-9) on Saturday, Jan. 9.

Canyons will finally have an opportunity to play in from of a home crowd during its home opener vs. Glendale College (3-10) on Wednesday, Jan. 13. That contest will tip off at 5 p.m. in the Cougar Cage.