Griffin Now Winningest Head Coach In SJU Women's Hoops History

By Matt Leon

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) --- There is a new all-time women's basketball coaching wins leader on Hawk Hill.

Cindy Griffin picked up her 249th victory on Sunday when her St. Joseph's University team beat Big 5 rival Villanova on Sunday, 58-54. She now has one more win than the previous record holder, Jim Foster.

"It was pretty great to do it at home and against a cross-town rival," Griffin tells KYW Newsradio. "Just really excited about it and it's a really great tribute to all the great players that have gone through St. Joe's when I've been there and also the coaches and the coaching staffs."

Listen to Cindy Griffin with KYW's Matt Leon:

Griffin is 249-171 in her 14 seasons as the head coach at her alma mater and she's led the Hawks to the NCAA Tournament the last two years. Her first win at the helm of the program came against USC back on November 16th, 2001. She talks about her road from win #1 to win #249.

"I think when you first come in, you're just so excited about getting that first win," Griffin says. "And you're trying to feel out a new system as far as the university, even though I played there, I had been at other universities (served as an assistant at Vanderbilt and assistant and then head coach at Loyola (MD)), and the new players that you're coaching. And then it comes into recruiting and we certainly have a niche and a lot of tradition here at St. Joe's. So I think it's one of those things that you go to work, you have a passion for what you do and the harder that you work, the more success you have and it's just like any other business."

That win over Villanova improved the Hawks to 3-5. Griffin talks about what she's got in this year's squad.

"We're finding our way," Griffin says. "We can score the ball a little bit. Our defense has been not great, I think that's why we've let a couple games slip away from us."

Griffin and her Hawks return to action tonight, they take on Penn in another Big 5 clash. Tip-off is set for 5:30 pm at the Palestra.

You can follow Matt on Twitter @mattleonkyw.

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