COC NOTEBOOK: WOMEN'S TEAM TRIES HARDER.

Byline: Heather Gripp Staff Writer

VALENCIA - Second-best is getting old for the College of the Canyons women's basketball team.

For a program with expectations of finishing atop the Western State Conference and state standings, there is little satisfaction in just reaching a tournament final. The Cougars have reached the championship game each of the past three tournaments they entered since last season, finishing second in each.

The latest second-place finish was at last weekend's Pasadena tournament, where Canyons lost by four to Pasadena, the No. 7 team in the state. The Cougars lost by five to No. 1 Mt. San Antonio College in the final of the Mt. SAC tournament.

``It's frustrating,'' Canyons coach Greg Herrick said. ``We've been in two tournaments and been runner-up in both. It's kind of funny. Our last tournament last season was the San Jose tournament, where we were runner-up to San Jose. That's three tournaments in a row we've been runner-up to the host team.''

The Cougars, who entered the week ranked sixth in the state, are first in at least some ways, though.

Canyons has the WSC's top-ranked offense, averaging 88 points a game. Also, sophomore guard Kaipresha Price leads the state in assists with an average of 10.4 a game. Freshman forward Jessi Loring, who averages a team-high 19.3 points, ranks first in the conference with an .679 field-goal percentage.

--Setback: When the women's basketball team lost Grace Coronado to an ACL injury eight games into last season, the Cougars looked forward to having the standout back within a year. Coronado had surgery in the spring and was expected to be ready to play early this season, but her recovery is going slower than hoped.

Coronado tried to play for the first time in last week's Pasadena tournament, but she returned to the sidelines with discomfort in the knee.

``We're still watching her knee very closely,'' Herrick said.

``If we had her in the lineup starting, we'd probably be doing some great things. But we're not rushing her back, especially the way she plays. She's the type of player who goes 100 percent, so we're not going to put her out there if she's anything less than that. We're not in a hurry with her because we're concerned about her health.''

--Top-10 tandem: Carlton Spencer and Andrew Bruckner have played a significant part in the men's basketball team's 5-3 start. Both players rank among the WSC's top 10 in multiple categories.

Spencer leads the conference in scoring with an average of 21.0 points a game. He also is sixth in rebounding (7.9) and eighth in assists (4.4).

Bruckner is averaging a conference-high 12.1 rebounds a game. He ranks sixth in scoring at 15.9 points a game.

--Supremacy report: With the fall sports season complete, early rankings for the annual WSC Athletic Supremacy Award have been released, and Canyons is fifth among the conference's 14 schools. Points are awarded based on teams' finishes in WSC standings.

Defending champion Ventura is again in first place, five points ahead of second-place Moorpark and 15 points ahead of Canyons, which finished fourth last season.

--Take a break: After juggling sports and final exams this week, Canyons athletes get to rest next week. The women's basketball team is off until playing in the San Jose tournament Dec. 27. The men's basketball team will have a week off between playing host to Barstow on Friday and opening its own Cougar Classic on Dec. 27.

The women's team even gets the end of this week off from practice after playing at Cypress on Wednesday.

``We're going to take about four days off to refresh our minds and get rejuvenated about basketball,'' Herrick said.

Heather Gripp, [phone]

heather.gripp(at)dailynews.com