What a Long, Strange Trip it's Been

Ian Mayer Arizona Daily Wildcat Senior forward Mikko Giordano (34) grabs for a loose ball earlier in the season. Giordano averages six points and four rebounds per game.

The team lost 10 games by 15 points or more, including a 52-point loss to then-No. 1 Tennessee.

That was during the freshman year for UA's current crop of seniors: Adia Barnes, Marte Alexander, DeAngela Minter, Fatima Imara and Mikko Giordano.

The next year, the team went 22-8 and won the Women's National Invitational Tournament.

Last season, the team went to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history and lost in the second round.

This year, after gaining its first-ever preseason top 25 ranking, the team is 14-4 and looking to go even farther.

"We decided we were going to change this program around," Giordano said. "We've accomplished a new feat each year. We did what we came to do."

But last summer, as the Wildcats prepared for what they hoped would be their best season ever, Giordano was forced to deal with personal tragedies.

Her roommate and best friend, UA softball player Julie Reitan, died in June from diabetes complications. And one of her two sisters, Gia Giordano, died about two months later, on the first day of the fall semester. She died from blood clots in her lungs, apparently a rare side effect of taking birth control pills.

"Those two deaths - it was a soul searching time. Last semester was a really hard semester. Basketball is important to me but it made me re-evaluate some things and that (basketball) was probably one of the last things on my mind. I just tried to concentrate on school. It wasn't exactly the best semester I had in school or basketball."

Giordano said her relationship with her parents, to whom she talks to at least every other day, has made dealing with the deaths possible.

"Both of them play a real integral part in my life," she said. "They help me through a lot of things."

Though obviously not as serious as dealing with a pair of deaths, when Giordano first arrived in Tucson, she had to deal with going from a high school all-star in Ventura, Calif., to being a role player averaging under 20 minutes a game.

"It was a hard adjustment going from playing all the time and being the go-to person on your high school team and then coming here and being just a number," she said.

Giordano started 20 games her freshman year, but only two as a sophomore.

She was switched from her natural forward position to guard during her sophomore and junior campaigns because the team needed more height in the post than the 6-foot-1 Giordano could offer, assistant coach Denise Dove said.

Then, when Imara and freshman LaKeisha Taylor were injured, Giordano was switched back to forward for her final season.

But Giordano didn't get down on herself or her coaches. Instead she went out and simply did what was asked of her.

"She'll do whatever it takes to make her team win," Dove said. "I respect her a lot."

And though she didn't complain when she was moved from forward to guard, she said she was more than happy to return to the post.

"I definitely like playing forward better," she said. "I like the physical stuff. I like to hustle and I like the defense.

"Scoring doesn't matter. If I score that's great, and I think that's probably one of my down falls in playing. That's probably why I don't play as much because I'm not scoring 30 like Adia, which is fine with me. I've accepted my role."

Asked to characterize her style of play, Giordano responded "I like to go in there and sometimes hurt a couple of people," she said, "but you know, that's how the game rolls, things happen. I like to do the dirty work."

Giordano said her childhood in general paved the way for the successes she has experienced.

"(My parents) raised me the right way, helping make decisions and helping me make decisions on my own," she said. "They help me out, but they don't really help me out in determining my fate. They want me to do that."

One decision she had to make on her own was where to attend college, as she was recruited by over 75 schools from around the country.

So why choose UA over other already-established programs?

"There was a lot of factors," she said. "I wanted to experience something new. When I came on my trip, I liked the school. Another big thing was that my family got to come and see me. It was far away from home, but it was close enough for me to go home whenever I wanted and my parents could always fly out to see me for home games and it wasn't that expensive."

Giordano said the opportunity to play right away was also a big factor contributing to her decision.

And 3 1/2 years later, she said she made the right choice.

"My really close friends on the team and the really close friends I've made here, they're going to be friends for life.

"One thing that has gotten us so far is that we believe in each other and we have faith in each other that things are going to happen. That's one thing we preach is that you have to have team chemistry in order to win and if you don't get along, you're not going to win."

So as the Wildcats continue their best season ever, Giordano will continue to play around 17 minutes a game, averaging six points and four rebounds along with a whole bunch of defense.

But, as Dove said, without quality role players like Giordano, there is no way UA would be as good as it is.

"We knew she would do whatever it took to win the game," she said. "She is the unsung hero on this team."