Team 2009-10 Nebraska Women's Basketball

Griffin's Honors 

  • 2010 First-Team All-American (WBCA, AP, USBWA, Wooden)
  • 2010 Lowe's Senior CLASS Award Winner
  • 2010 Big 12 Player of the Year
  • No. 3 Overall Pick in 2010 WNBA Draft (By Minnesota, Traded to Connecticut)
  • University of Nebraska Athletics Hall of Fame (Class of 2021)
  • Nebraska No. 23 Jersey Retired (2014)
  • 2010 Naismith Trophy Finalist (1 of 4)
  • 2010 Honda Sports Award Finalist (1 of 4)
  • 2010 Wooden Award Finalist (1 of 5)
  • 2010 Wade Trophy Finalist (1 of 12)
  • 2010 V Foundation Comeback Award Finalist (1 of 9)
  • 2010 NCSA Giant Steps Courageous Student-Athlete Finalist (1 of 3)
  • 2010 WBCA All-Region 5 Team (1 of 7)
  • Three-Time First-Team All-Big 12 (2007, 2008, 2010)
  • Big 12 All-Defensive Team (2010)
  • Three-Time First-Team Academic All-Big 12 (2007, 2008, 2010)
  • Nebraska Female Student-Athlete of the Year (2010)
  • Big 12 Postgraduate Scholarship Winner ($7,500, 2010)
  • Nebraska Career Double-Doubles Record (40)
  • No. 4 on Nebraska Career Scoring List (2,033 Points)
  • No. 4 on Nebraska Career Rebounding List (1,019)
  • Big 12 Freshman of the Year (Dallas Morning News)
  • Big 12 All-Rookie Team (Coaches, 2006)
  • Nine-Time Big 12 Player of the Week (March 8, 2010; March 1, 2010; Feb. 22, 2010; Feb. 15, 2010; Jan. 4, 2010; Dec. 21, 2009; Feb. 4, 2009; Feb. 5, 2007; Jan. 8, 2007)
  • Two-Time Big 12 Rookie of the Week (Jan. 9, 2006; Feb. 6, 2006)
  • Saint Mary's Hilton Concord Thanksgiving Tournament MVP (2009)
  • State Farm Classic All-Tournament Team (2006)
  • Veterans Day Classic All-Tournament Team (2006)
  • Miami Thanksgiving Classic All-Tournament Team (2005)
  • NU Game, Season and Career Records for Free Throws Made & Attempted
  • Big 12 Winter Good Works Team (2007)
  • Nine-Time Big 12 Commissioner's Academic Honor Roll
    (Fall, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009; Spring, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009)
  • Nebraska Student-Athlete Advisory Committee Representative (2006-07)
  • Gatorade Alaska State Player of the Year (2005)
  • First Nebraska Women's Basketball Player from State of Alaska
  • First-Team Alaska Class 4A All-State (2005)
  • Three-Time All-Cook Inlet Conference (2003, 2004, 2005)

After Nebraska
Following her collegiate career, Griffin was the No. 3 overall pick in the WNBA Draft by the Minnesota Lynx. She was quickly traded to the Connecticut Sun, where she earned one of five spots on the 2010 WNBA All-Rookie Team. Griffin spent her fifth and final WNBA season with the Connecticut Sun in 2014. In 2013, Griffin started all 34 games while averaging 8.7 points and 5.0 rebounds. She played 133 WNBA games with 61 starts in her first four seasons, while averaging 5.0 points and 3.9 boards per game in her career.

Griffin has continued to be one of the top professionals in the world as a three-time WNBL champion (2013, 2014, 2019) and a three-time WNBL Grand Final MVP (2013, 2014, 2019). She has also been a two-time WNBL All-Star Five choice (2015, 2016) and was voted the WNBL Defensive Player of the Year in 2015.

Griffin played professionally in Hungary in 2010-11 and Israel in 2011-12, before joining the Bendigo Spirit in Australia's WNBL in 2012-13. She led Bendigo to the WNBL title and was named the MVP of the championship series in both 2013 and 2014. Griffin was a member of the WNBL All-Star Five and the league's Defensive Player of the Year in 2014-15, averaging 16.0 points and 9.2 rebounds. 
She played alongside former Husker teammate and Canadian Olympian Chelsea Aubry in Bendigo for three seasons (2012-13 to 2014-15).

In 2015-16, Griffin ranked fourth in the WNBL in scoring (17.9 ppg), third in rebounding (10.0 rpg), fourth in steals (41) and ninth in blocks (20) despite battling a hamstring injury. In 2016-17, she averaged 15.1 points and 7.7 rebounds, before spending her sixth and final season in Bendigo in 2017-18.

In 2018-19, Griffin was the WNBL MVP after leading the Canberra Capitals to the league title. She led the WNBL in scoring (19.7 ppg) and rebounds (12.3 rpg) while ranking fifth in steals (1.7 spg) and eighth in blocks (1.0 bpg). She had 29 points and 15 rebounds in the championship game win over the Adelaide Lightning, when she hit five three-pointers. She was the MVP of the Grand Final, averaging 25.0 points and 16.7 rebounds in the series. 

In 2020, the WNBL season was condensed to just six weeks by the coronavirus pandemic. Griffin appeared in 12 games and averaged 12 points and 8.1 rebounds per game for Canberra.
She returns as a team co-captain for the Capitals in 2021-22 for her 10th WNBL season. She is closing in on 3,000 points and 2,000 rebounds in her WNBL career. 

She claimed her permanent citizenship in Australia in 2015, and earned MVP honors at the 2017 Asia Cup in her first Australian National Team appearance. She also competed for the Opals at the Commonwealth Games in 2018. She was scheduled to represent Australia in the first FIBA 3x3 Olympic Qualifying Tournament in India (March 18-22, 2020) before it was canceled by the coronavirus outbreak. 

Senior (2009-10)
One of the most decorated players in Nebraska women's basketball history, Kelsey Griffin produced one of the best senior seasons in school history on her way to first-team All-America honors in 2009-10. The 6-2 forward from Eagle River, Alaska, averaged 20.1 points and 10.4 rebounds per game while leading Nebraska to its best season in school history.

The 2010 Big 12 Player of the Year, Griffin earned first-team All-America honors from the WBCA, Associated Press, U.S. Basketball Writers Association and the Wooden Award while powering Nebraska to its first-ever NCAA Sweet 16 appearance and its first Big 12 regular-season title.

Along the way, Griffin was named a finalist for every major national player-of-the-year award (Wade, Naismith, Wooden, Honda) and became Nebraska's first Lowe's Senior CLASS Award winner in any sport. She was also named a finalist for the V Foundation Comeback Award and the National Consortium on Athletics and Sports Giant Steps Courageous Student-Athlete Award. Griffin, who earned her bachelor's degree in biological sciences from Nebraska in May of 2010, was also named the 2010 Nebraska Female Student-Athlete of the Year across all sports. She also earned a $7,500 Dr. Prentice Gautt Postgraduate Scholarship from the Big 12 Conference.

Griffin, who led Nebraska to its highest national rankings and first-ever NCAA Tournament No. 1 seed, closed her five-year career with a school-record 127 starts, while ranking fourth in school history with 2,033 points and fourth with 1,019 rebounds. She joined 1993 Wade Trophy winner Karen Jennings as the only Huskers in history with 2,000 points and 1,000 boards. In 2014, fellow first-team All-America Husker joined that elite Husker group. Griffin also closed her career with a school-record 40 double-doubles, including a record 20 double-doubles as a senior in 2009-10.

A three-time first-team All-Big 12 pick, Griffin also earned a spot on the Big 12 All-Defensive Team as a senior with single-season career bests of 60 steals, 26 blocks and a remarkable 29 charges drawn.

Griffin erupted for a career-high 36 points at Kansas State on March 6 to carry NU to the first perfect season in Big 12 history, helping the Huskers improve to 29-0 overall and 16-0 in the league. She hit 15-of-19 shots from the field against the Wildcats. It was Griffin's fifth 30-point effort of her career, including her fourth as a senior (31 points, 11 rebounds vs. Creighton; 30 points, 14 rebounds vs. No. 5 LSU; 30 points, 13 rebounds at No. 11 Oklahoma).

Griffin scored 20 or more points 17 times, including 11 games with 25 or more. She also produced 21 double-figure rebound efforts as a senior, including a career-high 17 rebounds to go along with 19 points and a career-best five blocks in a Feb. 27 win over Missouri.

Griffin earned six Big 12 Player-of-the-Week awards as a senior, including four straight to end the season to become the first player in history to win four straight player-of-the-week accolades.

Griffin finished with 104 double-figure scoring efforts in her career, including each of the Nebraska's three games in the 2010 NCAA Tournament, when she averaged 18.3 points and 11.7 rebounds per game.

After a sensational start as a freshman, Griffin battled illness down the stretch, limiting her playing time during the last half of the 2006 Big 12 season.

In 2006-07, she was challenged by a breathing condition with effects similar to asthma. In 2007-08, Griffin played the entire year with a protective vest after cracking a rib in NU's final exhibition game.

Not even the rib injury and breathing condition could stop Griffin from producing her best Big 12 campaign by averaging 16.8 points and 8.2 rebounds per game. They also couldn't stop her from carrying the Huskers to their first NCAA Tournament victory since 1998.

Griffin erupted for 26 points going head-to-head with Xavier's post duo of 6-6 Ta'Shia Phillips and 6-5 Amber Harris to guide NU to a win over the Musketeers in College Park, Md.

However, in 2008-09 Griffin was forced to miss the entire season with a foot injury that required a pair of surgeries. She returned to full health before the start of the 2009-10 campaign.

Redshirt (2008-09)
Griffin took a redshirt season after suffering a foot injury in August. The injury required surgery in December and a second surgery in June of 2009. She did not return to playing full-court basketball until September of 2009.

Junior (2007-08)
Griffin led the Huskers with 15.3 points and 7.2 rebounds per game, and ranked among the Big 12's top 10 in scoring, rebounding, field goal percentage and free throw percentage as a junior. She led NU to the third NCAA Tournament win in school history with 26 points in a 61-58 victory over Xavier on March 23.

Her effort against the Musketeers followed 21 points and 10 boards against Kansas in the Big 12 Tournament.

Griffin scored 20 or more points seven times in 2007-08, including three games with 26 points. She had seven double-doubles, including five in regular-season Big 12 play and a sixth in the conference tournament.

Despite being limited all season by a cracked rib suffered in NU's exhibition finale on Nov. 5, Griffin showed her toughness by taking a team-best 20 charges, including four in the NCAA Tournament.

After missing four games and sitting out three weeks with the injury to close non-conference play, Griffin averaged 16.8 points and 8.2 rebounds in Big 12 action. She improved each week, averaging 19 points and 8.7 rebounds over NU's final 10 regular-season games.

Griffin's Big 12 numbers came in just 27 minutes per game. She scored 269 points in just 433 minutes of league action, an average of 0.62 points per minute. She pulled down 131 rebounds for 0.30 boards per minute. Her per-minute scoring surpassed 2007 National Player of the Year Courtney Paris from Oklahoma, who averaged 0.58 points per minute in Big 12 play. Griffin's rebounds per minute trailed only Paris among league players.

In three postseason games, Griffin averaged 18 points, 7.0 rebounds and 2.7 steals per contest.

Griffin ranked among the top 10 in the Big 12 in scoring, rebounding, field goal and free throw percentage in league play. She produced season highs with 26 points in wins over Xavier (March 23), Missouri (Feb. 21) and Colorado (Feb. 6), and pulled down a season-high 14 rebounds at Texas Tech (Feb. 24).

Her 26 points against Xavier tied for the second-best individual total by a Husker in NCAA Tournament history.

Sophomore (2006-07)
Griffin was the fourth Husker sophomore in history to capture first-team all-conference honors, joining Kiera Hardy, Karen Jennings and Maurtice Ivy.

Griffin joined Hardy in becoming the first Husker duo to earn first-team All-Big 12 honors in the same season. Griffin ranked among the top 10 in the Big 12 in scoring, rebounding and field goal percentage, averaging 15.0 points and a team-best 8.3 rebounds, while shooting a team-best 54.6 percent from the field.

She had 10 double-doubles and six 20-plus scoring efforts, including four in Big 12 play. She scored in double figures 28 times and grabbed double-figure rebounds 12 times. She led NU on the glass on 20 occasions.

Griffin ranked seventh in the Big 12 in scoring (15.0 ppg) and sixth in rebounding (8.3 rpg) and field goal percentage (54.6 percent), while her 10 double-doubles were seventh-best in the league in 2006-07.

She stepped into the national spotlight with 23 points and 13 rebounds in Nebraska's 76-67 win over No. 13 Baylor in a Fox Sports Net national telecast at the Devaney Center on Feb. 3. She earned the Big 12 Player-of-the-Week award on Feb. 5, her second honor of the season after capturing the award on Jan. 8.

Griffin scored a season-high 24 points and grabbed 10 boards in a win over Kansas on Jan. 27. She had 22 points and eight rebounds against All-American Courtney Paris and No. 8 Oklahoma on Jan. 6. She pumped in 21 points with seven rebounds going head-to-head with Texas All-American Tiffany Jackson. Griffin helped the Huskers to their first-ever win in Austin on Jan. 3.

She posted her first double-double of the year with 17 points and 12 boards in a win over No. 18 New Mexico in Tempe, Ariz., on Nov. 13. She added a double with 13 points and 12 boards against Cal State Fullerton on Nov. 17. Griffin posted her third straight double-double with 22 points and 10 rebounds in a win at UC Irvine on Nov. 24.

She added a double-double with 13 points, 11 boards and three assists in NU's 60-57 win at Creighton on Dec. 19. Griffin produced back-to-back double-doubles to lead NU to a State Farm Classic title at Florida. In the opener against NCAA Sweet 16 qualifier NC State, Griffin erupted for 18 points and 10 boards in a 94-74 Nebraska victory, before adding 15 points and 13 rebounds in an 81-73 win over Florida on its home court.

Griffin added Big 12 road doubles at Kansas (18 points, 13 rebounds) and No. 21 Texas A&M (16 points, 10 rebounds). She had 17 points and seven rebounds in NU's Big 12 Tournament second-round overtime loss to Iowa State on March 7, before settling for 11 points and six rebounds against Temple in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on March 18.

Freshman (2005-06)
Griffin produced one of the best freshman seasons in Nebraska history, capturing Big 12 Freshman-of-the-Year honors from the Dallas Morning News.

A member of the five-player Big 12 All-Rookie team chosen by the league coaches, Griffin was the fifth NU freshman in history to score 400 points. She closed her rookie campaign with 19 points and seven rebounds against Kansas State in the WNIT quarterfinals to finish fourth on NU's freshman scoring list with 424 points.

Griffin finished the year with 13.3 points and 6.0 rebounds per game, despite battling illness for the final nine games of the season. Her scoring and rebounding averages ranked among the top 10 on NU's freshman lists. She also remained in the starting lineup for all 32 games, becoming just the fourth freshman in Husker history, and the first since Meggan Yedsena in 1990-91, to start every game of her rookie campaign.

The first player from Alaska in Husker women's basketball history, Griffin set the NU freshman record with 121 made free throws, while her 174 attempts ranked second among Husker freshmen. Her 54.1 percent field goal shooting ranked third by an NU freshman.

Griffin achieved the 100-point scoring mark faster than any player in NU history, reaching the mark in the first minute of her seventh game. Her race to 100 was accelerated by 31 points and 14 rebounds against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in her fourth career game.

Griffin's performance against the Islanders came on 9-of-18 shooting from the field and a 13-of-18 effort at the free throw line. Her 18 attempts tied the overall school record for free throw attempts in a single game. Her performance also earned her a spot on the Miami Thanksgiving Classic All-Tournament team.

She added a top-five freshman performance at NU with 28 points and 12 rebounds to go along with a career-high three blocked shots at Kansas State on Feb. 4. That effort helped her earn the second Big 12 Rookie-of-the-Week award of her career on Feb. 6.

She had her second double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds against Missouri on Jan. 11, after earning her first Big 12 Rookie-of-the-Week honor.

Griffin produced four games with 20 or more points, including a 22-point effort at Northwestern on Dec. 10, and 20 points on 9-of-10 shooting from the field against No. 24 Texas A&M on Feb. 11.

She scored in double figures 21 times, while adding three double-figure rebound efforts and three double-doubles (TAMUCC, Missouri (Jan. 11), at K-State (Feb. 4).

High School
Griffin was the Gatorade Alaska Player of the Year as a senior in 2004-05. She earned first-team Class 4A all-state honors and was a three-time All-Cook Inlet Conference pick for Coach Tracy Adams at Chugiak High School. Griffin was the most dominant all-around player in the state, averaging 19.4 points, 11.2 rebounds, 4.4 assists, 4.3 steals and 2.1 blocked shots per game.

Her hard work at both ends of the court helped the Mustangs earn a third-place finish at the Class 4A state tournament her senior season. Griffin missed nearly all of her junior season with a knee injury, but returned at the end of the season to lead Chugiak back to the state tournament. Chugiak eventually lost to Juneau and finished fourth.

As a sophomore, Griffin helped Chugiak to the Class 4A state title. In the championship game win over Wasilla, Griffin had 10 points and 13 rebounds.

In addition to her success on the basketball court, Griffin also competed in volleyball for the Mustangs. She was also a standout in the classroom as an honor roll member throughout high school.

Personal
The daughter of Jim Griffin and Jan Griffin, Kelsey was born July 2, 1987. She has one brother, Geoff Ferguson, and a sister, Jayme Griffin.

Kelsey was a biological sciences major at Nebraska and earned her bachelor's degree in May of 2010. She was a three-time first-team academic All-Big 12 pick and a nine-time member of the Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll.

She was also a member of the 2006-07 Big 12 Winter Good Works Team for her outstanding contributions to community service. As a sophomore in 2006-07, she was a member of Nebraska's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.

She chose Nebraska over Michigan State and Arizona State.

Griffin's Career Statistics

  

Year

G-GS

FG-FGA

Pct.

3P-3PA

Pct.

FT-FTA

Pct.

TRB-Avg.

PF-D

A

TO

Blk

ST

Pts-Avg.

2005-06 32-32 151-279 .541 1-4 .250 121-174 .695 192-6.0 82-4 28 48 24 40 424-13.3
2006-07 32-32 177-324 .546 1-9 .111 125-173 .723 265-8.3 78-0 35 63 19 36 480-15.0
2007-08 29-29 158-295 .536 1-7 .143 127-176 .722 208-7.2 55-1 30 64 25 40 444-15.3
2008-09   Redshirt                        
2009-10 34-34 245-411 .596 6-24 .250 189-250 .756 354-10.4 72-0 63 64 26 60 685-20.1

Career

127-127

731-1,309

.558

9-44

.205

562-773

.727

1,019-8.0

287-5

156

239

94

176

2,033-16.0