She is the ninth offseason addition to Kenny Brooks’ roster as the new UK coach.
Head coach Kenny Brooks of the University of Kentucky women’s basketball team revealed on Sunday that the program had signed a seasoned guard with 5-8 experience.
Pronounced Day-Zha, Dazia Lawrence is a graduate transfer from Charlotte who will begin her studies in 2024–2025.
Brooks remarked, “We are thrilled to have Dazia join BBN.” “She brings a wealth of experience and leadership to the program and will provide a scoring punch.”
Native of Greenville, North Carolina, Dazia Lawrence spent four seasons (2021–2024) at Charlotte, where she finished with 1,170 points, 287 rebounds, 162 assists, and 133 steals. Her junior and senior seasons were when she added the most to her stats as a Niner.
She just finished her best season to date, averaging 18.2 points, 4.2 rebounds, 2.6 assists, and 1.7 steals per game while a senior in 2023–2024. Thirteen of her thirty-plus point games and thirteen of her thirty-plus point games from the previous season had her score in double figures. In a victory over Temple on February 4, she surpassed 1,000 career points, scoring 20 of her 29 points in the second half and 14 in the third.
Nov. 23, in a close game against Southern Illinois, Lawrence accounted for 32 of Charlotte’s points. In a different memorable game, on January 17, she defeated Tulane with a double-double of 15 points and a career-high 11 assists. She also contributed four steals and two rebounds to the victory.
Lawrence made 136 of his 170 trips to the line (80.0 percent) last season. She actually sank 8 of 8 free throws in the fourth quarter of a victory over Rice on January 11 out of a total of 12 attempts.
Lawrence was named to the American Athletic Conference First Team for her showstopping performances in 2023-24, and she was named to the Conference-USA First Team as a junior in 2022-23. Last summer, she played for Team USA in the 2023 FIBA 3×3 U23 World Cup in Poland, alongside Zia Alexandria Cooke, Aquira DeCosta and Dyaisha Cheryce Fair. Team USA finished 11th out of 20 teams in the final standings. She also represented Charlotte and the AAC at the 2024 NCAA Student-Athlete Leadership Forum. Lawrence redshirted in 2019-20 before opting out of team activities at the semester break in 2020-21 because of the coronavirus outbreak.