George Washington University Athletics
GW Athletics Vault: Sarah-Jo Lawrence's NCAA Buzzer-Beater vs. Cal
6/23/2021 11:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 9, 2021 marked the 200th anniversary of the U.S. Congress' establishment of The George Washington University's charter. GW Athletics is proud to be part of the university's bicentennial celebration, honoring the historic milestone with a variety of initiatives meant to highlight the best of the Buff and Blue, including these regular features looking into the GW Athletics Vault. To learn more about the #GW200 festivities, visit the university bicentennial page.
Far from home and on the ropes in the second round of the 2008 NCAA Tournament, GW women's basketball needed to conjure some March Madness vs. Cal at Stanford's Maples Pavilion to reach the Sweet 16 for the second consecutive season and extend the careers of a special group of seniors.
What happened next is the stuff of legend.
"I think all of us had been in those high-pressure, late-game situations where we had to shoot that last shot or make that last free throw," said Sarah-Jo Lawrence, one of the starring seniors who made the magic happen. "Honestly, some games we made those shots – some games we didn't, but I think we had been in situations like that enough times before to know the mindset we needed to have going into that game to be able to make the shot when it counted."
Nationally ranked throughout the season yet seeded sixth in the Greensboro Regional, GW trailed the third-seeded Bears by six points with less than four minutes to go before storming back, led by its vaunted defense and the crunch-time heroics of its veteran cast.
Whitney Allen started the comeback with a layup. Then Jessica Adair knocked in a pair of free throws to pull the Colonials within two at 53-51 with 1:50 to go.
That was still the score in the final minute when the Buff and Blue got the stop that they needed and pushed the ball to Lawrence in transition for the tying lay-up.
Cal, it seemed, would get the final shot of regulation, but GW's defense came through again, forcing a traveling violation as the Bears tried to call a timeout near their bench.
Hall of Fame Coach Joe McKeown opted not to call a timeout with 5.7 seconds remaining, and in a brief huddle, All-American Kimberley Beck told her teammates to be ready to crash the glass.
Lawrence, once again, was in the right place at the right time. With the clock ticking down, the Rhoadesville, Va., native caught Beck's errant runner, waited a beat to avoid a Cal defender and then banked in the game-winner just before the buzzer.
"I just remember in that moment the amount of focus and how I only saw that square and the basket – That was it," Lawrence said. "I heard nothing. It was like the epitome of being focused and tuned in, and I was confident in that shot.
"I wasn't thinking anything but, 'This is going in. This is going in.' I was thinking those positive affirmations. And boy, I just remember those two seconds felt like 30 seconds to me. Because I was just in the zone."
An epic celebration followed Lawrence's clutch buzzer-beater that improbably kept the Colonials dancing.
"I remember I was just so excited," said Lawrence, who finished with 13 points, four rebounds and four assists. "I had to do something with my feet, my hands. I just kind of high-stepped it backwards. I don't know where that came from. I just needed to displace that energy that I felt, that elation, that joy, and just the fact that everyone reacted the way they did. We all kind of came together."
Looking back, Lawrence chuckles at her postgame interview with an ESPN sideline reporter. Amid the excitement, she struggled to find the words to sum up the barely-believable finish.
Afterward, it was special for Lawrence to find her late mother and sister among the Buff and Blue contingent in California for an emotion-packed hug.
The party continued that night through a chartered red-eye flight back to Foggy Bottom, and the next morning, a spirited group of fans and a collection of local media were waiting to welcome the Colonials home.
A squad led by a trio of 1,000-point scorers in Lawrence, Beck and Adair, plus the defensive whiz Allen, would close out its season the following Sunday in Greensboro, N.C., with a regional semifinal loss to second-seeded Rutgers, finishing at 27-7 overall.
Today, the members of that tight-knit group remain close, bonded by their shared success in Foggy Bottom and one of the most unforgettable moments in Buff and Blue history.
"That moment gets shown a lot and I happen to be in that moment, but there were so many moments that my teammates did amazing things to get us there," said Lawrence, an All-Conference Second Team pick and Academic All-American that season. "That moment shows my face in it, but I think if you look at the team and our history, it really was a compilation of all of us stepping up when we needed to and getting it done. It's rare to see that nowadays."
Far from home and on the ropes in the second round of the 2008 NCAA Tournament, GW women's basketball needed to conjure some March Madness vs. Cal at Stanford's Maples Pavilion to reach the Sweet 16 for the second consecutive season and extend the careers of a special group of seniors.
What happened next is the stuff of legend.
"I think all of us had been in those high-pressure, late-game situations where we had to shoot that last shot or make that last free throw," said Sarah-Jo Lawrence, one of the starring seniors who made the magic happen. "Honestly, some games we made those shots – some games we didn't, but I think we had been in situations like that enough times before to know the mindset we needed to have going into that game to be able to make the shot when it counted."
Nationally ranked throughout the season yet seeded sixth in the Greensboro Regional, GW trailed the third-seeded Bears by six points with less than four minutes to go before storming back, led by its vaunted defense and the crunch-time heroics of its veteran cast.
Whitney Allen started the comeback with a layup. Then Jessica Adair knocked in a pair of free throws to pull the Colonials within two at 53-51 with 1:50 to go.
That was still the score in the final minute when the Buff and Blue got the stop that they needed and pushed the ball to Lawrence in transition for the tying lay-up.
Cal, it seemed, would get the final shot of regulation, but GW's defense came through again, forcing a traveling violation as the Bears tried to call a timeout near their bench.
Hall of Fame Coach Joe McKeown opted not to call a timeout with 5.7 seconds remaining, and in a brief huddle, All-American Kimberley Beck told her teammates to be ready to crash the glass.
Lawrence, once again, was in the right place at the right time. With the clock ticking down, the Rhoadesville, Va., native caught Beck's errant runner, waited a beat to avoid a Cal defender and then banked in the game-winner just before the buzzer.
"I just remember in that moment the amount of focus and how I only saw that square and the basket – That was it," Lawrence said. "I heard nothing. It was like the epitome of being focused and tuned in, and I was confident in that shot.
"I wasn't thinking anything but, 'This is going in. This is going in.' I was thinking those positive affirmations. And boy, I just remember those two seconds felt like 30 seconds to me. Because I was just in the zone."
An epic celebration followed Lawrence's clutch buzzer-beater that improbably kept the Colonials dancing.
"I remember I was just so excited," said Lawrence, who finished with 13 points, four rebounds and four assists. "I had to do something with my feet, my hands. I just kind of high-stepped it backwards. I don't know where that came from. I just needed to displace that energy that I felt, that elation, that joy, and just the fact that everyone reacted the way they did. We all kind of came together."
Looking back, Lawrence chuckles at her postgame interview with an ESPN sideline reporter. Amid the excitement, she struggled to find the words to sum up the barely-believable finish.
Afterward, it was special for Lawrence to find her late mother and sister among the Buff and Blue contingent in California for an emotion-packed hug.
The party continued that night through a chartered red-eye flight back to Foggy Bottom, and the next morning, a spirited group of fans and a collection of local media were waiting to welcome the Colonials home.
A squad led by a trio of 1,000-point scorers in Lawrence, Beck and Adair, plus the defensive whiz Allen, would close out its season the following Sunday in Greensboro, N.C., with a regional semifinal loss to second-seeded Rutgers, finishing at 27-7 overall.
Today, the members of that tight-knit group remain close, bonded by their shared success in Foggy Bottom and one of the most unforgettable moments in Buff and Blue history.
"That moment gets shown a lot and I happen to be in that moment, but there were so many moments that my teammates did amazing things to get us there," said Lawrence, an All-Conference Second Team pick and Academic All-American that season. "That moment shows my face in it, but I think if you look at the team and our history, it really was a compilation of all of us stepping up when we needed to and getting it done. It's rare to see that nowadays."
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