University of Georgia Athletics
Griffin Helps Lead Lady Bulldogs By Example
December 18, 2014 | Women's Basketball
By Ann Drinkard
A junior shooting guard for the No. 15-ranked Lady Bulldogs from Monticello, Mississippi, she stands at five-feet, seven-inches tall. She is the team's second-leading scorer at 11.2 points per game and her name is Tiaria Griffin.
Griffin does not consider herself a vocal leader, but a leader by example.
"Yeah, just focusing and working hard every day," Griffin said. "Trying to get the chemistry back on the team and do what I can do to help whenever we get out on the court to play."
Griffin was a standout player in her freshman season. She started in all four NCAA Tournament games that year, which was not easy to do considering the talent on the 2012-13 team. The Lady Bulldogs made it to the "Elite 8" round of the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2004.
Griffin, along with teammate Shacobia Barbee, made the Lady Bulldogs the only team to reach the "Sweet 16" round of the NCAA Tournament with two freshman starters.
This year the Lady Bulldogs have shown flashes of the talent Georgia had two years ago, especially in their 69-60 win over No. 16 Michigan State two weeks ago. Griffin believes this team has the potential to make a deep tournament run, as long as they stay focused.
"I do think we have the ability," Griffin said. "We're just a lot younger so we have to stay focused and get better everyday."
As a sophomore, Griffin was able to produce points for the Lady Bulldogs, but not like she had done the year before.
"I think Tiaria got lulled into a false sense of security going into her sophomore year because she had finished her freshman year on such a positive note," head coach Andy Landers said. "She found what happened last season wasn't the place to be. She went to work during the offseason and at this point, she's improved greatly from where she was in her first two years."
Knowing that her second season was not as productive as her first, Griffin is always out on the court getting in as many extra shots as possible. She leads by example, in hopes that her teammates will follow.
"I think from my freshman year I did pretty good," Griffin said. "Sophomore year wasn't so good, but I came back out hard this year doing a lot of extra work trying to contribute more and stay consistent on the court."
Griffin and her teammates feel that their 10-day trip to Italy this past August gave them a leg up on their competition. Ten extra practices, three international games but most importantly: team bonding. Griffin believes the trip "most definitely" helped to contribute to their team chemistry.
"I think we all came together, sat down and talked about what needed to be done and how we need to do it," Griffin said. "Everybody just keeps focusing on that and staying on track."
In Griffin's freshman season, Georgia was led by seniors and future WNBA draft picks Jasmine James, Jasmine Hassell and Anne Marie Armstrong. Griffin knows that leadership was a key ingredient in the Lady Bulldogs' success two years ago and says it has been an important part to their 10-0 start this season.
Though her efforts to fill that leadership role may be silent, they are reciprocated loudly in a competitive setting.
The Lady Bulldogs, who are one of 12 remaining undefeated women's basketball teams in the country, will return to action this Saturday after a 13-day break from games while UGA conducted final exams. They face Furman at 4 p.m. in Stegeman Coliseum.
Ann Drinkard is a junior from Commerce, Ga., who is majoring broadcast journalism and also pursuing a sport media certificate from UGA's Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication. She is in her second year as a student assistant with the UGA Sports Communications office.
"Coming Attractions" is a weekly feature published on georgiadogs.com spotlighting a UGA student-athlete who will be competing in a key home event during the upcoming weekend. Previous stories include:
August 28 - David Andrews (football vs. Clemson) September 4 - Carly Hamilton (cross country in Bulldog Invitational)
September 11 - Tirah Leau (volleyball in Benson Hospitality Invitational)
September 18 - Mariel Gutierrez (soccer vs. Vanderbilt)
September 25 - Toby Johnson (football vs. Tennessee)
October 2 - Emma Sonnett (soccer vs. Tennessee)
October 9 - Jared Markham (swimming & diving vs. Alabama)
October 16 - Gaby Smiley (volleyball vs. Kentucky and Tennessee)
October 23 - Bella Hartley (soccer vs. Kentucky)
October 30 - Olivia Ball & Ian Forlini (swimming & diving vs. Florida)
November 6 - Megan Spencer (volleyball vs. Arkansas)
November 13 - Kolton Houston (football vs. Auburn)
November 20 - Yante Maten (men's basketball vs. Troy & FAU)
November 27 - Damian Swann (football vs. Georgia Tech)
December 4 - Marjorie Butler (women's basketball vs. Michigan State)