Josh Embry
Sports Editor
Fresh off being named a member of the 2019-20 OVC Women’s Basketball All-Newcomer Team, junior forward Laci Hawthorne has proven to be a dominating force on the glass and in the paint for Murray State women’s basketball in her first season in the navy and gold.
Hawthorne, who is from Fort Worth, Texas, said she was born into a family of athletes. Her mother played basketball at Northwestern State University and her father played football.
“I have been playing basketball pretty much my whole life,” Hawthorne said. “I started playing organized basketball when I was like 7. My whole family plays basketball so I guess you can say we just passed it down.”
Hawthorne went to Boswell High School and was a multi-sport athlete in track, volleyball and basketball. However, she excelled on the court above all else.
As a junior, Hawthorne led her team to a state championship and was named MVP of the game. She was a McDonald’s All-American nominee her senior year, a First Team All-District member three years in a row and was the recipient of the Carl Lewis Leadership Award.
Coming out of high school, Hawthorne moved roughly 270 miles south from Fort Worth to San Antonio, Texas, to play for the University of the Incarnate Word, a private Catholic university with roughly 11,000 students.
During her single year there, Hawthorne played only 43 minutes total, across 11 games and averaged 0.6 ppg and 1.4 rpg.
Hawthorne transferred from Incarnate Word to New Mexico Junior College her sophomore year. As a Thunderbird, her numbers increased as she averaged 9.8 ppg and 5.4 rpg while helping New Mexico become the No. 1 team in the nation.
She also played a key role in getting the Thunderbirds to the national championship game. Her impressive play led her to being named a 2018-19 All-WJCAC team honorable mention.
Hawthorne’s success at New Mexico led to coaches from Division I schools being interested in her. One coach that seemed particularly interested was Murray State’s Head Coach Rechelle Turner.
Prior to meeting Turner, Hawthorne said she knew practically nothing about Murray State but had heard of it when Racer alumnus Cameron Payne was drafted in the NBA in 2015.
“Well I had heard about [Murray State] because I know who Cameron Payne is and I remembered him from the [NBA] draft,” Hawthorne said. “But I did not know where Murray State was [and] I did not really know anything about it.”
Hawthorne said she fell in love with the University immediately and quickly committed after visiting campus.
“Immediately when I came, I loved the campus and the coaches were super cool and I just felt that vibe like ‘this is where I needed to be,’ so I literally committed the next week,” Hawthorne said.
Some people questioned Hawthorne’s choice of school but she said the feeling she felt while at Murray was unmatched anywhere else.
“I actually took a visit to a school in California a couple of days before I came and visited here,” Hawthorne said. “A lot of people were asking me, ‘You chose this place over California?’ and I was like, ‘Yeah, I just felt that vibe here.’”
Soon after committing in April 2019, Hawthorne made the roughly 900-mile trek from San Antonio to Murray to start her junior season as a Murray State Racer.
When first arriving at Murray State, Hawthorne said the transition from the junior college level back to the Division I level was not difficult.
“It was not that hard of a transition just because I have already played Division I basketball before,” Hawthorne said. “At New Mexico, we were No. 1 in the nation so we were playing really good teams all the time. Those girls went off to play at big schools so I mean the competition was very intense.”
One thing that was a transition for Hawthorne, however, was playing at a different position than she had played previously.
“I feel like this year has been just a big learning experience for me because I have had to play in positions that I haven’t really played in before,” Hawthorne said. “Here I am kind of more of a post [player], [but] back at my other schools I could play [the] 3-4. Here I [play the] 4-5. Sometimes I would be on the wing but here I am just like pick-and-roll which is okay. Just whatever the team needs me to do.”
Hawthorne said since she has changed positions this season, she knows what aspects she needs to improve on throughout the season to continue to improve and help the team.
“[Playing a different position] has just taught me to know that I need to work on…ball handling for sure, my [outside] shooting, definitely defense and rebounding can always improve,” Hawthorne said.
While some can attest that Hawthorne needs to improve her ball handling, outside shooting and defense, one would be hard-pressed to find anyone who would say she needs more help learning how to rebound.
Hawthorne is a monster on the glass, as she is the second leading rebounder in the OVC with 9.3 rpg on the season and 10.7 rpg in conference play. She also leads the OVC in offensive rpg in both the season and in conference play (3.3 rpg and 3.7 rpg, respectively).
Hawthorne’s killer mentality to get every rebound coupled with a secret technique she uses proves fruitful for her collection of the boards.
“Every ball that comes off the rim, I got to go get it,” Hawthorne said. “I guess that is my mentality but I don’t know, it just happens. There is a little technique that I use but I can’t really say what it is.”
As well as being dominant on the glass, Hawthorne has been a solid and efficient inside scorer for the Racers. On the season, she is shooting 54.5% from the field and is averaging 10.2 ppg on the season.
In her last 12 games, Hawthorne has averaged 12.8 ppg along with 11.8 rpg. Against SIUE on Feb. 22, Hawthorne had her best game as a Racer, earning 20 points, a career-high 17 rebounds, two assists and two steals.
Hawthorne’s stellar season has led to her racking up 10 OVC Women’s Basketball Newcomer of the Week awards this season, the most of any OVC player on the season.
Hawthorne, who is the oldest upperclassman to play regular minutes, has made an effort this season to step up as a leader for a team that has no seniors.
“This year I have been trying to focus on being more of a leader but the whole vocal aspect of it, I think that comes natural to me,” Hawthorne said. “I am just a very vocal person anyways so that part came pretty easy but it is just [through] my playing [that] I need to be more of a leader.”
Turner said Hawthorne’s development as a leader throughout the season has been especially important for the team’s chemistry and success during the season.
“She just continues to be outstanding,” Turner said. “Just her work and her effort and her attitude and her leadership out there on the floor has been huge. For her to go out in this situation and her knowing that I am leaning on her now more than ever and being able to perform says a lot about who she is.”
Although Murray State has had success, they have had to overcome one setback after another. Hawthorne said they are able to overcome their adversity because the players have great chemistry with each other.
“Actually, I feel like our team chemistry is really good,” Hawthorne said. “We are finally starting to gel together a lot more and I think it shows on the court as well. I feel like when we talk to each other, we can tell each other things and we are not going to get mad or take it personal because we understand we just want each other to be better.”
With injuries to two of Murray State’s starters, the Racers are going to Evansville, Indiana, to take on No. 1 ranked UT Martin depleted and lacking depth. Hawthorne’s impressive play will need to carry over to tournament time for the Racers to have a chance of advancing past the first round.
Hawthorne’s goals before ending her Racer career are to leave a legacy at Murray State and to bring home an OVC championship.
“Of course the big goal is to win the OVC Championship and I just want to leave my mark here at Murray State,” Hawthorne said. “I know that I have only been here for a year and I got one more year but I just want to leave a legacy here.”
Hawthorne’s goal to win an OVC championship and leave a lasting legacy at Murray State will be obtained if she is able to lead the Racers, either this year or in the 2020-21 season, to win an OVC Championship for the first time since 2008.
