http://www2.lhric.org/pocantico/womenenc/griffith.htm

Yolanda Griffith

Yolanda Griffith was born on March 1, 1970 in Chicago, Illinois. Yolanda  is a professional basketball player in the WNBA. She is 6 feet 4 inches and weighs 175 pounds. She plays for Sacramento Monarchs.

Yolanda is the youngest of five children and grew up on the south side of Chicago. She went to Carver Area High School and was a Parade Magazine All-American and was also All State. Yolanda was recruited to Iowa but her grades were not good enough to play her first year, she got pregnant, and moved to Florida and played at a junior college. She had a daughter, Candace. Griffith went to Florida Atlantic for one year and then to play basketball in Germany. She came back to the US in and finally to the
WNBA. The Sacramento Monarchs drafted her in 1999 as the 2nd overall pick. She got MVP, Newcomer of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, and All-WNBA Team.

Yolanda has won she won two Olympic Gold Medals, and one Bronze Medal. She also made the WNBA first and second teams two times each, and she made the 1999, 2000, 2001, and 2003 WNBA All-Star Team. She is one of the best WNBA players in the whole league.

In her first Olympics, in 1999/2000, she averaged 10.3 points per game and 9.3 rebounds. She was dominant on the inside and was best on the team in rebounding and scoring. Her great effort and amazing play got the USA the gold medal.

In her next Olympics, in 2004, she averaged 8.5 points per game and grabbed down 6.6 rebounds per game. She also had an amazing 60.5%  from the field. She again got the gold medal.

Yolanda led the Monarchs to third best record in the western conference. She also led them to the playoffs. She averaged 18.8 points per game, 11.3 rebounds per game, 2.5 steals per game and 1.9 blocks per game.

She led the Monarchs to the 2001 and 2003 Western Conference Finals. In 2003 they lost to the Los Angeles Sparks in three games.

Griffith is 11th among the all time scoring leaders (2,484), 3rd among rebounds (1,489), 6th among steals (316), and 7th among blocks leaders (220).

Yolanda says, "It just takes hard work. That's why I'm always on her (her daughter) about education. You can be great in basketball, but stupid in life. And I don't want her to be like that; I want her to be balanced, to know that education will get her farther than picking up a basketball and throwing it in a hoop."