#3 Canyons got a pair of dominating performances from its front line, powering the Cougars to an 84-74 win over #14 Long Beach in the first round of the playoffs Friday night in Valencia.
PF Facion Edwards had 30 pts and 20 rebs while Ctr Melissa Tachias had 20 pts and 20 rebs in the game. Nobody else on either team managed as many as 20 points or more than 7 rebounds.
Canyons led the entire game, jumping out to an 18-4 lead in the first 7 minutes behind 10 points and 8 boards from Tachias. To that point, COC hadn't even committed a turnover and seemed to be on its way to a blowout win.
But Long Beach fought its way back into the game, cutting the Canyons lead to 7 late in the first half after a jumper by SG Amber ThomasAyana Wrighster and a basket by Edwards made it 40-29 at halftime, in favor of Canyons.
And when the second half began, Long Beach continued to rally, cutting the lead to just 3 points at 50-47 after a short jumper by Ctr TyQuanna Ganaway just under 6 minutes into the half. Canyons then pushed its lead back to 10 points at 59-49, only to see Long Beach cut the margin back to 5 at 59-54 after a 3-point play by PF Allegra Kohley.
But Canyons pulled away again, gradually expanding its lead to double figures after a three by SF Andrea Bobic made it 69-58 with just over 6 minutes remaining. A turnaround jumper by Edwards pushed the margin to 15 at 77-62, and Canyons led by double digits the rest of the way.
Other standouts for Canyons include PG Leslie Ortiz, who had 14 pts, 9 asts and 7 rebs, and Bobic, who had 12 pts (all on threes), 6 rebs and 6 asts.
For Long Beach, Thomas led the way with 19 pts, 6 rebs and 4 asts. PG Jessica Quintero had a double-double with 10 pts and 10 asts. SF Dijon Franklin had 12 pts and Kohley had 11 pts, all in the second half, for the Vikings. Long Beach lost despite a remarkably low total of just 9 turnovers.
With the win, Canyons improves to 28-5 and will host the winner of tomorrow's Saddleback/Mt. San Jacinto game next Saturday in the regional final. Long Beach, the South Coast-South champion, loses to Canyons for the third time this season and finishes 20-9.
box score
Friday, February 23, 2007 - 7:30 pm
at College of the Canyons, Valencia
Playoffs - First Round (women)
Long Beach 74:
1-Dijon Franklin, SF - 5/14 fg, 3 reb, 1 stl, 1 pf, 12 pts
3-Amber Thomas, SG - 8/24 fg, 3/4 ft, 6 reb, 4 ast, 2 stl, 3 pf, 19 pts
10-Jessica Quintero, PG - 4/17 fg, 1/3 ft, 6 reb, 10 ast, 2 stl, 3 pf, 10 pts
32-TyQuanna Ganaway, C - 3/8 fg, 5 reb, 3 stl, 5 pf, 6 pts
35-Tywanna Washington, PF - 3/9 fg, 1/1 ft, 6 reb, 2 ast, 5 stl, 3 pf, 7 pts
30-Kendra James, C - 3/5 fg, 1/2 ft, 6 reb, 3 pf, 7 pts
24-Tiana Whitaker, F - 1/2 fg, 2 reb, 1 ast, 1 pf, 2 pts
34-Allegra Kohley, F - 5/8 fg, 1/2 ft, 3 reb, 1 stl, 1 pf, 11 pts
23-Vianca Silvain, G - 0 pts
21-Jocelyn Santos, G - 0 pts
team rebounds: 7
Totals: 32/87 fg (.368), 7/12 ft (.583), 44 reb, 17 ast, 0 blk, 14 stl, 20 pf, 74 pts
3-pt fg (3): Franklin 2, Quintero
Intentional Foul: Washington
Fouled Out: Ganaway 4:18 left
Turnovers (9): Thomas 3, Quintero 3, Franklin, Washington, Whitaker
Canyons 84:
12-Leslie Ortiz, PG - 4/14 fg, 6/6 ft, 7 reb, 9 ast, 1 pf, 14 pts
15-Andrea Bobic, SF - 4/9 fg, 6 reb, 6 ast, 2 stl, 2 pf, 12 pts
22-Facion Edwards, PF - 13/18 fg, 4/6 ft, 20 reb, 1 ast, 2 blk, 2 stl, 2 pf, 30 pts
32-Ayana Wrighster, SG - 1/8 fg, 2/4 ft, 1 reb, 2 ast, 1 blk, 1 stl, 3 pf, 5 pts
35-Melissa Tachias, C - 7/14 fg, 6/11 ft, 20 reb, 3 blk, 3 pf, 20 pts
14-Cortney Dunlap, G - 1/5 fg, 1 reb, 1 ast, 1 pf, 3 pts
25-Nicole Moffatt, F - 1 ast, 0 pts
5-LaTreshe Jones, F - 1 pf, 0 pts
13-Amanda Sreden, F - 0/2 ft, 1 pf, 0 pts
team rebounds: 7
Totals: 30/68 fg (.441), 18/29 ft (.621), 62 reb, 20 ast, 6 blk, 5 stl, 14 pf, 84 pts
3-pt fg (6): Bobic 4, Wrighster, Dunlap
Turnovers (22): Bobic 5, Ortiz 4, Wrighster 4, Edwards 3, Tachias 3, Dunlap, Moffett, Sreden
Halftime Score: Canyons 40, Long Beach 29
Updated Records: Canyons (#3 seed) 28-5, Long Beach (#14 seed) 20-9
