Griffith Regains Her Groove in Monarchs’ Victory

Yolanda Griffith is finding her form.

Griffith scored 16 of her 22 points in the second half to lead the Sacramento Monarchs to an 80-63 victory over the Liberty on Monday night before 12,262 at New York.

Griffith, the league most valuable player in 1999, missed the preseason while leading her team to the Italian league championship last week. She joined the Monarchs Friday and played sparingly in the opener against Cleveland on Saturday.

Griffith made nine of 12 shots and grabbed 10 rebounds in her first start for the Monarchs (2-0).

Tari Phillips led New York (1-2) with 19 points and seven rebounds.

Portland 71, Phoenix 69--Sylvia Crawley had four points in overtime and Sophia Witherspoon scored 22 points as the Fire (2-1) stopped the Mercury (1-3) before 7,041 at Portland, Ore.

Seattle 74, Indiana 71--Katy Steding and Sonja Henning combined for three free throws in the final minute of overtime as the Storm (2-1) beat the Fever (0-3) before 7,021 at Indianapolis.