Griffith’s Big Game Leaves Sun at a Loss

It has taken Yolanda Griffith seven years to reach the WNBA Finals, and her debut was a splashy one.

Griffith scored 25 points and dominated inside as the Sacramento Monarchs beat the Connecticut Sun, 69-65, in the opener of the best-of-five series Wednesday night. With her career winding down, the 35-year-old forward knows this could be her last shot at the title.

“Nothing in life is guaranteed and I’ve been preaching that,” Griffith said. “We’re here this year, but we can finish last next year.”

The Monarchs lost both regular-season meetings but used a strong inside game, anchored by Griffith, and relentless defense to hand Connecticut a rare home loss. The Sun, making its second straight appearance in the Finals, had lost only three games this season at the Mohegan Sun Arena coming in. Game 2 is tonight in Connecticut.

The Monarchs outscored Connecticut, 38-26, in the paint. Griffith’s 25 points are the fifth-highest single-game total in WNBA Finals history.

“She’s got that will right now to go and try to win a championship like everybody else and you can see how possessed she is about playing,” Connecticut Coach Mike Thibault said.

The home crowd got into it early when Lindsay Whalen was announced for the starting lineup for Connecticut. The star point guard broke a bone in her left knee during the Eastern Conference finals on Saturday and was questionable.

However, Griffith had the strong shooting touch in the end. The league’s leading offensive rebounder, Griffith made 11 of 17 shots, mostly on inside and second-chance buckets, and finished with a team-high nine rebounds. The Monarchs’ defensive pressure forced the Sun into 15 turnovers.

Matched up most of the game against 7-foot-2 center Margo Dydek, Griffith time and again shot over Dydek’s long reach or beat her on the baseline.

“She’s like a wall,” Griffith said of Dydek. “She sits right there in the paint, so when you get a jump shot, you’ve got to have confidence and knock the shot down.”

Nykesha Sales led the Sun with 23 points. Her three-point basket with 1:26 left pulled Connecticut to within three at 66-63. The Sun had a chance to tie it on its next possession, but Whalen missed a wide-open three-pointer from the right wing and the Monarchs made three of four free throws to ice the game.

Whalen handled the Monarchs constant pressure and played 25 minutes without a turnover. She finished with seven points.

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Washington Mystic guard Temeka Johnson was named the league’s rookie of the year, receiving 44 of the possible 50 votes from a national panel of sportswriters and broadcasters.

Johnson, the sixth selection in the 2005 draft out of Louisiana State, averaged 9.3 points and 5.2 assists.