A revenge-seeking, momentum-building Tennessee team is ready to lay down the Law for a chance for their first title since 1998.
When Duke heads to Atlanta Saturday it will need to find a way to shut down Kara Lawson, one of the Lady Vols biggest threats. Tennessee's game is reliant on Lawson's three-point accuracy and the transition game in which she is a key part.
"We credit Kara tremendously for her leadership," head coach Pat Summit said. "She is trying to get to a different level this year. I think she is at a different level with her leadership and defense. She is also doing a great job offensively of blending in and not forcing like last year in the postseason."
The 5-foot-8 senior guard has a comparable scoring average to Iciss Tillis and the range to Vicki Krapohl, which makes her arguably the biggest obstacle the Blue Devils will need to overcome to make it to the finals. Lawson currently leads the Lady Vols in three-point shooting, having shot 71-for-154 breaking, 45 percent.
"She's such a tremendous player and she's having a great year," Duke's head coach Gail Goestenkors said, aware of the threat Lawson poses. "She's their go-to player and she's surrounded by other players as well: Gwen Jackson and Shyra Ely have both stepped it up in the post season. But Kara's the type of player where you want to limit her touches because she does make so many good things happen for her team."
Lawson has firmly established her leadership throughout her career with Tennessee. She made this year's second team All-America squad and is still amongst the finalists for the Nancy Lieberman Step-Up award, which honors the nation's top point guard. Lawson is currently ranked second amongst her supporting cast in free-throw percentage (.869), assists (133), steals (41), points (493) and scoring average (14.5 ppg). Her aggressiveness and leadership have helped lead the Lady Vols to a 31-4 record and the Final Four.
"She can be very streaky once she starts hitting from the three-point line," Goestenkors said. "We watched a tape where she hit six threes in a game, and you can't let her have that type of night. She wants to come away with the championship as well, and I know she's going to do everything she can."
Lawson is undoubtedly going into Saturday's contest hungry to avenge Tennessee's loss to Duke in November, but more importantly for her last chance to grasp the championship.
"I think she's the heart and soul of their team," Blue Devil starting guard Alana Beard said. "She's the type of player that will step up and take that last second shot. She wants the ball in her hands. That's just the type of player she is."
"This is a confident group," Lawson said of her momentum-gaining Vols. "We believe in each other. We want to go a couple of steps further this year."
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