College of the Canyons women’s basketball, winners of four straight, checked in as the No. 8 ranked team in the state in the first California Community College Sports Information Association (CCCSIA) poll of the 2021-22 season, released on Jan. 26.

Canyons (15-4, 4-1) is one of six programs from the Southern California region to rank within the poll’s top 10. COC is joined by No. 5 Moorpark College and No. 14 Bakersfield College as the three programs representing the Western State Conference (WSC).

San Joaquin Delta (19-1) was the unanimous No. 1 team followed by No. 2 Fresno City (17-1), No. 3 Sierra College (15-2), No. 4 Mt. San Antonio College (16-3) and No. 5 Moorpark (14-2).

No. 6 Palomar (15-2), No. 7 Irvine Valley College (13-2), No. 8 Canyons, No. 9 San Mateo (13-2) and No. 10 East L.A. (13-5) rounded out the top 10.

A full ranking can be seen here.

Canyons started the 2021-22 season 8-0, winning the annual VC-Kiwanis Tournament of Champions and finishing runner-up at the annual Gilcrest Tournament after falling 61-42 to San Joaquin Delta in the tourney’s championship game.

Included in that streak were a pair of wins over top-ranked Mt. SAC and victories over Long Beach City College and College of the Sequoias, who all appear in the CCCSIA poll.

The Cougars bounced back from the loss to Delta in historical fashion, helping long time COC head coach Greg Herrick capture his 600th career win with a 78-67 win over Rio Hondo College.

COC had previously ranked No. 6 in the last CCCWBCA statewide poll released Jan. 3.

With the CCCWBCA scheduled to release only regional polls the remainder of the season, Canyons tied for the No. 5 spot with East L.A. in the SoCal Regional Poll released Jan. 24.

After dropping its WSC, South Division opener, Canyons has won four straight to sit second behind Bakersfield in the conference standings.

The Cougars and Renegades square off in a battle for the conference’s top spot at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 26 in Bakersfield

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.