Cindy Griffin
	Hometown: Maple Glen, Pa. Position: Head Coach - 11th Year Experience: 11th Season at SJU Alma Mater: Saint Joseph's '91

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Six postseason berths, eight all-conference performers, five in-season tournament crowns and four victories over nationally-ranked teams are among the numerous accomplishments of Saint Joseph's 11th-year head coach Cindy Griffin. A 1991 and 1993 graduate of SJU, Griffin (nee Anderson) was named the seventh head coach in the program's history on April 25, 2001. Griffin has compiled an overall record of 206-157 in 12 seasons as a head coach and is 158-124 in nine seasons on Hawk Hill.

Griffin helped to reinvigorate the SJU program in her first season, leading the squad to a 24-8 record and the second round of the WNIT. She capitalized on the team's tradition of scrappy play and rugged defense, while releasing the reins and allowing the team to play a more up-tempo style on the offensive end of the floor. The Hawks finished the year among the national leaders in nine different categories and paced the nation in free throw percentage for the second straight year.

Following a memorable first year at the helm of her alma mater, Griffin upped the ante in her second season by capturing 2003 Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year honors after guiding the Hawks to a 19-11 record. The team sprinted to the conference's Eastern Division title and earned a berth in the WNIT for the second straight season, despite the departure of SJU's all-time leading scorer and a non-conference schedule that rated fourth nationally.

Led by six seniors, the 2004 team went 22-11 and advanced to the WNIT Elite Eight. Saint Joseph's finished second in the A-10 East and dropped a heartbreaker in the Atlantic 10 Championship to Temple. Four Hawk seniors reached the 1,000-point plateau, marking just the eighth time in NCAA history that a quartet of players had reached the milestone in the same season. Erin Brady, Irina Krasnoshiok, Stephanie (Graff) McCaffrey and Amra Mehmedic went on to sign professional contracts.

With the loss of four 1,000-point scorers, the 2004-05 Hawks showed their true colors down the stretch, earning a hard-fought victory over La Salle in the opening round of the Atlantic 10 Championship and coming within 10 points of 16th-ranked, and eventual A-10 Champion, Temple.

Fueled by a collection of newcomers and a developed core of upperclassmen, Griffin led the Hawks back to national prominence in 2005-06. The Crimson and Gray engineered the nation's best turnaround (13 games) and, received votes in the national polls for the first time since 2003-04. The Hawks advanced to the semi-finals of the A-10 Championship and earned a berth in the WNIT.

Despite losing a good deal of experienced players prior to the 2006-07 season, Griffin had her team peaking at the right time. Playing Griffin's style of hard-nosed defense and persistent offense, the Hawks advanced to the Atlantic 10 Championship game, including the program's first win over a top-10 opponent (#8/9 George Washington) since 1992 along the way. Saint Joseph's capped the season with its fifth WNIT appearance in six years and tied the SJU record for games played in a season with 33.

Relying heavily on underclassmen in 2007-08, Griffin guided her Hawks to another winning season, including crowns at the Brown Basketball Classic and the Hilton Philadelphia Hawk Classic. Among the wins, Saint Joseph's posted its biggest win over a non-conference ranked opponent since the 1984-85 season, topping #15 Auburn for the Hawk Classic title.

Last season, Griffin undertook arguably her toughest season to date as Saint Joseph's played every contest away from Hawk Hill for the first time in program history. And in typical SJU fashion, Griffin got her team to respond as Saint Joseph's went on to post an 8-5 record at home venues and earn its first Big 5 title since 2000-01. Individually five Hawks posted career-bests in scoring, with juniors Brittany Ford and Mariame Djouara both earning All-Big 5 Second Team honors.

Following her playing career, Griffin spent the 1992-93 season as a graduate assistant at her alma mater. She then accepted an assistant's spot at Vanderbilt University from 1993-95 under former Saint Joseph's head coach Jim Foster. Foster recruited Griffin to SJU and coached her during her playing career on Hawk Hill.

In her two years as an assistant at Vanderbilt, the Commodores finished 53-15 overall, won the 1995 SEC championship and reached the NCAA Sweet 16 both seasons. In addition to coaching responsibilities, she was the co-director of the Vanderbilt Basketball Camp and the director of the Black & Gold Club.

Griffin left Vanderbilt after the 1995 season to become an assistant coach at Loyola College (Md.). She spent three seasons as an assistant under Patty Coyle being elevated to the role of associate head coach in 1998. Griffin was promoted to the position of head women's basketball coach at Loyola midway through the 1998-99 season. She was the seventh-youngest head coach in Division I at the time. Griffin - who was named head coach five games into the season as Coyle left for an assistant coach position with the WNBA's New York Liberty - kept the Greyhounds' momentum going as Loyola won a team-record 21 games that year. Overall she compiled a record of 48-33 during her tenure at the Baltimore school, guiding the squad to the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference semifinals all three seasons.

One of the top playmakers in Saint Joseph's history, Griffin starred for the Hawks from 1987-88 through 1991-92 (missing the 1988-89 season due to injury). A three-time team captain, Griffin finished her career with 662 points, 278 rebounds, 510 assists and 197 steals. She currently ranks fourth on SJU's all-time assist list.

As a junior in 1990-91, she played in 1,178 out of a possible 1,200 minutes to set the school record for minutes played in a single season. The Hawks made three NCAA Tournament appearances and posted three straight 20-win seasons during her playing career. A two-time Second Team All-Big 5 choice, as well as a Third Team All-Atlantic 10 pick as a senior, she was inducted into the Saint Joseph's Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 1998.

A native of Maple Glen, Pa., Griffin played her high school basketball for Bishop McDevitt, winning two Philadelphia Catholic League titles. A 1987 graduate of McDevitt, she was inducted into its Athletic Hall of Fame in 1997, and in 2002, received the Philadelphia Catholic League's alumni achievement award. She earned a bachelor's degree in accounting from Saint Joseph's in 1991 and completed work on an M.B.A. from SJU in 1993. She resides in Conshohocken, Pa., with her husband Curtis and children, Kaylie (6), Hannah (4) and Curtis Jr. (1).