Whitworth University

Joial Griffith is in her fourth season as the women's basketball coach at Whitworth University in 2021-22.  She has guided the Pirates to a record of 31-27 in her three years, including two fourth place finishes in the Northwest Conference.

Griffith took over for long-time Whitworth head coach Helen Higgs, who resigned after 24 seasons as the winningest coach in Pirate women's basketball history.

Griffith spent one season with the Williams (Mass.) Ephs' women's basketball program.  They finished 12-13 in 2017-18, including two close losses to eventual national champion Amherst.

Prior to her year at Williams, Griffith was the assistant coach at Claremont-Scripps-Colleges in Southern California, near where she grew up.  The Athenas made back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances during her two seasons, finishing 20-9 in 2017 and 23-6 in 2016.

Griffith began her career as a graduate assistant coach at Concordia University in Irvine, California in 2011.  She had been a two-year player for the Eagles and graduated from Concordia in 2007.  She earned her Master's in 2013 and went on to assistant coaching stints at Canyon High School (2013-14) and Mendocino College (2014-15).