Griffith named player of week

Griffith averaged 19.5 points, 3.5 assists and 2.5 rebounds in the Wildcats' sweep of UCLA and Southern Cal over the weekend.

Griffith, who is from Portland, Ore., made seven three-pointers against USC on Sunday, a Pac-10 individual season-high, and was 11-for-22 on the trip. It's the first player of the week award in Griffith's career and she is the second UA player in three weeks to be recognized (Monika Crank on Feb. 3) by the conference.

"She's very deserving," UA head coach Joan Bonvicini said. "It's a nice honor for all the hard work that she has put in. She been a great sparkplug for us all season."

Griffith, who needs 21 more three-pointers to break the UA single-season record, was pretty sure she was going to have a big weekend before it started.

"The whole week before the trip, I felt like I was in a good rhythm," Griffith said. "Any time that you are in a rhythm, you have to take advantage of it and shoot."

Bonvicini's green light to shoot has only helped her confidence.

"I have a shooter's mentality so missing the first one doesn't usually bother me," Griffith said.

"The coaches want me to look to shoot, so I just keep letting them go."

With fellow guards Monika Crank and DeAngela Minter fighting through injuries, Bonvicini said she wasn't surprised with the way Griffith stepped up. Neither were her teammates.

"That is what is special about this team, someone always comes up big. This time Lisa had an awesome weekend," junior Mikko Giordano said. "Next time it might be someone else. This team is really tight and we seem to find a way together."