Santa Monica City College tried to exert unbearable pressure on the College of the Canyons women’s basketball team on Saturday night, but the Lady Cougars had none of it.

Thanks to a barrage of 3-pointers, a smothering defense and a speedy transition game, COC turned a two-point first half advantage into a rout, claiming a 77-45 Western State Conference victory.

The first half began very nice for COC (16-8, 5-0), which was led by sophomore guard Arielle White and second-year forward Charity Smith with 11 and 10 points, respectively.

And although Canyons was lighting up the scoreboard early on, both teams hit a cold streak.

From the seven-minute mark through 2:27 of the first half, neither team could score one bucket.

The drought was worse for COC, though, as it did not tally a point for the rest of the period.

Meanwhile, the Corsairs (6-13, 3-2) launched a late comeback, cutting the deficit to two points at 29-27 when Audriel Wyrick hit the second end of a one-and-one free throw.

COC came out of the first-half deep freeze to open up a double-digit lead early in the second period, thanks in no small part to big 3-point shots by White, Enchantee Merriman and Britney Bradley, who banged home back-to-back treys at the 15-minute mark.

Bradley, who had only two points in the first, ended up with a game-high 20, while Smith and White finished with 17 points apiece. For the Corsairs, Wyrick shared the game high with Bradley.

With six minutes remaining, Bradley’s short jumper gave COC a 63-42 lead and the coasting began.

A few minutes later, Bradley hit another jump shot to push the lead to 30.