University of Tennessee Athletics
KARA LAWSON RECEIVES PRESTIGIOUS FRANCES POMEROY NAISMITH AWARD
March 25, 2003 | Women's Basketball
March 25, 2003
KNOXVILLE, Tenn.
University of Tennessee senior guard Kara Lawson has been named as the 2003 Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award winner by the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass. Criteria considered for the award, presented annually since 1984 to the nation's premier senior women's basketball player standing 5'8" tall or under, include career statistics and academic achievement, as well as exhibited character and leadership qualities.
Lawson has more than proven herself on the hardwood this season in leading Tennessee to a 30-4 record and its 12th overall and sixth consecutive Southeastern Conference regular-season championship. The Lady Vols will also be making their 22nd consecutive appearance in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tourney. The senior currently leads UT in three-point shooting (71-of-154 for a .461 clip), while ranking second in free throw percentage (.869), assists (133), steals (41), points (493) and scoring average (14.5 ppg). She has already been selected as a U.S. Basketball Writers of America first-team All-America, has picked up recognition as the Arthur Ashe, Jr. Student-Athlete of the Year. She was a finalist for the Naismith Player of the Year and is still among the finalists for the Senior CLASS and Nancy Lieberman Point Guard of the Year awards while ranking as one of 13 chosen in the final cut for the Wade Trophy.
On the conference level, Lawson was recently named as a first-team All-SEC member by both the league's coaches and the Associated Press (unanimous choice). With the selection, Lawson enters elite company with former Lady Vol legends Bridgette Gordon and Chamique Holdsclaw as the only UT players to reap first-team All-SEC honors all four years of her career. During the conference season, the senior led the SEC in both assist/turnover ratio and three-point shooting percentage.
The Alexandria, Va., native has always made the classroom and community a priority during her days at Tennessee. Lawson, a finance major who boasts a 3.77 GPA, and earned a spot on the Verizon's first-team All-America squad, currently serves as the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee president, and as a student-representative to the UT Athletics Board. Lawson has picked up the Finance Department's Knoxville Community Housing Resource Minority Scholarship and has twice been a member of the All-SEC Academic squad. The two-time SEC "Good Works" team member is currently involved in several projects in the local area hoping to complete her goal of 100 career community service events.
On the career charts, she currently leads the Lady Vols in all-time three-pointers made (250) and in free throw shooting percentage (.842 on 331-of-393 from the charity stripe), while rating fifth in scoring (1,895 points) and eighth in career assists (438). With 21 more points, she would pass Semeka Randall (1,915) for fourth on the all-time scoring list and trail only Holdsclaw (3,025), Gordon (2,450) and Tamika Catchings (2,113).
Lawson will be presented the Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award at the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA)/Jostens-Berenson awards luncheon on April 5, 2003, in Atlanta, Ga., at the NCAA Final Four.
Past Frances Pomeroy Award Recipients
| 2003 | Kara Lawson | Tennessee |
| 2002 | Sheila Lambert | Baylor |
| 2001 | Niele Ivey | Notre Dame |
| 2000 | Helen Darling | Penn State |
| 1999 | Becky Hammond | Colorado State |
| 1998 | Angie Arnold | Johns Hopkins |
| 1997 | Jennifer Howard | North Carolina State |
| 1996 | Jennifer Rizzotti | Connecticut |
| 1995 | Amy Dodrill | Johns Hopkins |
| 1994 | Nicole Levesque | Wake Forest |
| 1993 | Dena Evans | Virginia |
| 1992 | Rosemary Kosiorek | West Virginia |
| 1991 | Shanya Evans | Providence |
| 1990 | Julie Dabrowski | New Hampshire College |
| 1989 | Paulette Backstrom | Bowling Green |
| 1988 | Suzie McConnell | Penn State |
| 1987 | Rhonda Windham | Southern California |
| 1986 | Kamie Ethridge | Texas |
| 1985 | Maria Stack | Gonzaga |
| 1984 | Kim Mulkey | Louisiana Tech |
