« Women’s Basketball 2007-08

Sarah-Jo Lawrence

School
George Washington University
Position
Guard
Ht
5'11
PPG
12.9
RPG
4.7
APG
3.9

Classroom

Lawrence maintains a 3.85 cumulative grade point average as a communications and sociology major. She earned CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District II first team honors as a junior. Lawrence also was an Arthur Ashe, Jr. Sports Scholar for the second consecutive year and named to the Division I-AAA Athletic Directors’ Scholar-Athlete team last winter.

Character

Lawrence is one of three senior captains on this year’s George Washington women’s basketball team, due in large part to her exceptional work ethic. Her character can best be summed by a diary entry she wrote while touring with the US William Jones Cup Team in Taiwan this past summer: “Sunday was our day off from basketball, which gave us a chance to tour the city. The best part of the day was in the morning when we went to an orphanage and visited with the children, toddlers and young boys there. I played basketball with the 10-to-14 year-old boys and learned the Chinese words for ‘shoot’ and ‘defense.’ The boys were great, but the babies were too cute! We got to hold and play with them. The little boy I was holding was fascinated with the little stars and moons hanging from the ceiling, so I held him up so he could touch them. The children were so happy to be getting attention and love from us, but really, they touched our hearts.”

Community

Lawrence is an active member of GW’s Athletes in Action group, which she translated into a journey overseas as a member of the 2007 United States William Jones Cup team in Taiwan, where she, and her teammates, visited local schools and hospitals while earning a bronze medal against international competition. She also is a Student-Athlete Advisory Council representative for the women’s basketball team, has twice participated in the annual DC WALK Now charity walk for autism research, and has twice received the basketball program’s Abbie O. Smith Award, which recognizes contributions in the classroom, community and on the court.

Competition

Lawrence has been the leading scorer for the nationally ranked GW women’s basketball program in each of the last two seasons. As a sophomore in 2005-06, she averaged 11.6 points per game and earned the Atlantic 10 Conference’s Sixth Player of the Year award. As a junior last season, she averaged 13.4 points and was named to the league’s second team.