(Editor's note: Tennessee senior Kara Lawson will share a diary with ESPN.com throughout the NCAA Tournament.)

March 11, 2003

	Lawson

This is by far the best time of year. I'm so excited to begin the NCAA Tournament. This will be my last opportunity to play for Tennessee, so every game will be memorable.

We received a No. 1 seed to the Mideast Region, which was where we expected to go, and we open with Alabama State on Saturday.

Ending the regular season with a loss in the conference tournament championship has really motivated our team to improve. We have had our most competitive practices all year during this past week. The rest of the students here are on spring break, which means we did not have the luxury of having our practice guys -- and so it was an all out war, orange versus white, in the scrimmages. The teams change every day and the losers have to run. The running doesn't bother me near as much as the losing, but luckily my team didn't lose very much.

One big event that occurred this week was the news that our assistant Mickie DeMoss accepted the coaching job at Kentucky. Mickie is an awesome coach, and I wish her nothing but the best in Lexington. This program at UT prepares everybody for life after Tennessee, and I believe Mickie will do a great job at UK. In my opinion, she deserves a head-coaching job more than anybody in the country. The best thing about it, though, is that she is going to finish out with us this year. Hopefully, we will send her out on a good note. Players and coaches come and go, but the Tennessee program will always be here and strong.

On a more serious note, I want to send my prayers to all of the U.S. troops overseas fighting for our country. I have a cousin and a few close friends over there. Their commitment puts a lot in perspective for me, because there are a lot of things bigger and more important in life than basketball and this year's tournament. Thanks for protecting our freedom.

I'll catch up with you guys after the first two rounds. I hope we are still standing.

K-Law

For more on Lawson and Tennessee, visit the Lady Vols' official athletic site.