Monarchs Blog and Q&A

Bee staff writer Melody Gutierrez grew up in Twentynine Palms. At 14-years-old, she decided to combine her two passions -- sports and writing -- when she became a special assignments reporter for the Desert Trail, her hometown weekly newspaper. Melody headed to Northern California in 2000 to attend Chico State and has remained in the region ever since. She earned an internship with The Bee and subsequently became a staff writer in 2004 and has covered virtually every sport, starting with high schools, up through college and then the pros. Melody took over coverage of the Monarchs last season and chronicled the team's pursuit of a second straight league championship -- a quest that fell just short.

Melody welcomes your questions and will answer as many as she can as the season progresses.

• Ask a question

« Griffith out for tonight's game | Monarchs Blog and Q&A front page | Griffith gets OK to play »

June 30, 2007

Yo may not be ready to go

The Monarchs are uncertain whether Yolanda Griffith will be cleared to play against Minnesota on Sunday at Arco Arena.

Griffith said doctors found swelling in her neck from a strained clavicle, which she suffered in Tuesday's 59-46 win over New York.

"It's just stiff," Griffith said after watching the Monarchs lose 92-84 to Chicago in double overtime on Friday. "I've been getting a lot of treatment. I just have to take it one day at a time."

While Griffith finished her thoughts, Adrian Williams piped in from across the locker room, asking if there was anything she could do to help the swelling and hurry the healing process. Williams started in Griffith's place at center Friday, scoring a team-high 16 points and 10 rebounds. It was Williams' first double double of the season.

Williams said she was nervous the whole game. She hadn't started a game since 2003 and said she is comfortable in her reserve role. If Griffith is not cleared Sunday, Williams will likely start again, this time against Minnesota, her former team. The Lynx traded Williams in February for the Monarchs' second round pick in April's draft.

"I believe, physically, I can handle it, but I haven't been in this situation in so long," Williams said. "I want to do anything I can to win."

The Monarchs did not practice Saturday in order to rest their weary legs. It was a well-deserved break after playing six games in nine nights.

Posted by tnegrete, June 30, 2007 03:44 PM

---

Ask a question

Please use the form below to submit your question. Because there is a 100-word limit for questions, a word counter is located directly beneath the box where you enter the your question.

Name:

City:  State:

E-mail:

Monarchs question:

Your letter contains of 100 words allowed.  Count words


Your IP Address has been recorded as 38.103.63.16 and will be included with this submission.

---

Contact Sports

Tom Negrete - Asst. Managing Editor, Sports & Business - (916) 321-1171
e-mail: tnegrete@sacbee.com.

Bill Bradley - Sports Editor - (916) 321-1224
e-mail: bbradley@sacbee.com.

For comments or questions about high school sports coverage, e-mail preps@sacbee.com or call (916) 441-4100. Fax: (916) 326-5503.