University of Tennessee Athletics
SENIOR GUARD KARA LAWSON SELECTED AS UT TORCHBEARER
April 10, 2003 | Women's Basketball
April 10, 2003
KNOXVILLE, Tenn.
The highest honor that an undergraduate can receive from the University of Tennessee is the Torchbearer Award, which recognizes students for their accomplishments both in the community and within the academic realm. Therefore, it is fitting that Lady Vol senior All-American Kara Lawson, from the basketball team, was chosen as one of seven Torchbearer honorees at the UT Provost Honors banquet on Thursday evening, April 9.
The Alexandria, Va., native has proven herself both on and off the hardwood during her illustrious career in the Orange and White. Lawson has maintained a 3.77 grade-point average in Finance and been named a Verizon Academic All-American despite playing 55% of her 143 career basketball games against ranked opponents. The senior has worked to foster the interests of student-athletes by serving as president of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and was twice chosen as a representative to the UT Athletics Board. In the community, the two-time Southeastern Conference "Good Works" team member has consistently worked to achieve a goal of 100 career service projects ranging from public speaking engagements to stints reading to elementary school children.
Lawson helped lead the Lady Vols to three NCAA Final Fours, two NCAA championship games, four SEC regular-season titles, a record of 126-17 overall and an incredible 54-2 mark in regular-season conference play during her four seasons at Tennessee. The 2003 Kodak All-American holds virtually every Lady Vol three-point record after nailing 253 career treys in 609 attempts. With 77 triples during the 2002-03 season, Lawson holds the two top marks in single-season three-pointers in UT history after hitting 79 threes during her freshman campaign. In being named first-team All-SEC for the fourth time this season, the senior joined former Lady Vol legends Bridgette Gordon and Chamique Holdsclaw as the only UT players to receive the honor after each of their four seasons. Lawson completed her stay at Tennessee tops in career free throw percentage (.845), second in three-point field goal percentage (.415), fourth in scoring (1,932), sixth in assists (451) and eighth in field goals made (670).
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