Is there anyone in college basketball that can defeat J.J. Redick in a three-point shooting contest? The answer is yes, and her name is Shanna Zolman.
While the two sharp-shooters never competed directly, in the 2002 McDonald's High School All-America game's three-point contest Zolman knocked down more treys winning the women's title than Redick did in the men's competition.
Zolman's performance two years ago at the McDonald's event was far from a fluke, as the Syracuse, Ind., native torched all competition while at Wawasee High School. She broke the Indiana career scoring mark by finishing with 3,085 and averaging 33.2 points per game over her four years.
"I feel like I'm shooting the ball in the ocean when I have a rhythm," Zolman told the Knoxville-News Sentinel in explaining her scoring abilities.
Once at Tennessee, the zone-buster disappointed few. Zolman was the only unanimous selection to the SEC's All-Freshman team, and the broadcasting major surpassed the Lady Volunteer's single sea son free-throw shooting percentage record by knocking down 58 of her 65 attempts (89.2 percent). Zolman only averaged 7.5 points per game for the national runner-up Tennessee, but showed flashes of brilliance. The skilled guard scored 20 points in an away game at Volunteer-hating Vanderbilt, and she dropped a timely 15 points in the SEC championship game.
But with the graduation of All-American Kara Lawson last spring, Zolman has found her place as the Volunteers' go-to guard.
"Shanna's kind of taken over the Kara Lawson role," Duke head coach Gail Goestenkors said. "She just does whatever's necessary. If they need a basket, she's the one that's going to make the right decisions whether it's to shoot, penetrate or get it inside to one of their post players."
Zolman is the second leading scorer on the Tennessee team for the 2003-04 season, coming into the Duke game averaging 12.2 points per game. Zolman's incredible shooting ability is far from a secret in the women's college basketball world, so why does she continually find herself open?
"She's one of the smartest basketball players I've seen," Goestenkors said. "She makes great reads, she makes great cuts."
The No. 1 Blue Devils will look to limit Zolman's influence as much as possible in their highly anticipated showdown with No. 2 Tennessee Saturday.
"I feel like that's going to be a key matchup for us," Goestenkors said. "I think we've got to put a lot of pressure on her so she doesn't get any looks because she is so good."
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