Monarchs head into new season without old leader

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Yolanda Griffith was the face of the Monarchs franchise for nine seasons, winning an MVP award, a WNBA championship and making six All-Star teams as the leader for Sacramento.

When the Monarchs open their season Saturday against San Antonio, the player that was at the center of just about everything Sacramento did both on and off the court is in Seattle. Her former teammates are left with the task of filling her sizable void.

"We've come to the conclusion that Yo has moved on, she's on another team and she's not here anymore," point guard Ticha Penicheiro said. "The things that she did on the court were unbelievable. The numbers speak for themselves, but she was also a great leader behind the scenes. All the veteran players have to step up. I think we all did it a little bit last year, but Yo was still the dominant one."

This year that responsibility falls mostly on veterans Penicheiro, Kara Lawson, Nicole Powell and Rebekkah Brunson, who no longer have the luxury of deferring to Griffith and must take the lead on a young roster under second-year coach Jenny Boucek.

Adding to that challenge was the loss of another veteran post player when forward DeMya Walker went down with a season-ending knee injury last month in Russia.

"There is a huge void," Lawson said. "You're talking about two All-Star players but also players who are huge presences for us in the locker room and day to day in practice. We have core players who have been here for a while and have been a part of championship runs and deep runs. I think the onus is on the four of us for a lot of reasons. We're the four players who are the core group of the team and have to pull the team together."

The Monarchs got experience playing without Walker last season, when she missed all but the first five games of the season with another knee injury. They made it back to the playoffs before losing a first-round series to San Antonio in three games.

Brunson had her best season in Walker's absence despite dealing with her own injury problems throughout the season. Brunson averaged a career-high 11.5 points and 8.9 rebounds per game, earning a selection to the All-Star game and a spot on the WNBA All-Defensive second team.

"I think when she first got into the league she was labeled as an athletic player, a rebounder," Penicheiro said. "But this is her fifth year and the way her game has evolved defensively and offensively has been incredible. She pretty much played all last year on one leg. She's not just a rebounder anymore. It's what people know her for, but she does so many other big things for this team."

Brunson will have to do even more this season as the most proven post player on the team. She will be joined up front by center Adrian Williams-Strong and rookies Laura Harper and Izabela Piekarska.

If Brunson's play over the winter in Italy was any indication, she will be up to the challenge. She averaged 20 points and 14 rebounds per game for Cras Basket Taranto.

"There's definitely a little bit more pressure on me," Brunson said. "But we've always been a team that used everybody. It wasn't about one person when Yo was here and it's not going to be about one person now. There's more pressure but it's not drastic."

There also will be pressure on Harper and Piekarska, who have gone from being established seniors playing in the NCAA tournament to wide-eyed rookies in a span of only a few weeks.

Harper began her WNBA education playing for the U.S. national team in China last month when she got to room with Lawson. Harper said she kept her veteran teammate up all night to pepper her with questions about the personalities of her new Monarchs teammates, the adjustment to the WNBA and what life was like in Sacramento.

Piekarska has had more time in camp with the Monarchs. The UTEP career scoring leader has already impressed her new teammates with the ability to step outside and hit a 3-pointer despite her 6-foot-5 size.

"With Yo leaving and DeMya getting injured, we have to have some young players learn quickly, quicker than we anticipated," Boucek said. "Young players have a learning curve. You hope you can ease them into it, but we don't have that luxury this year. They will be learning a lot under fire."