Donna Lawson (1998) - Marshall Athletics Hall of Fame

Donna Lawson

Induction:
1998

When Marshall decided to add women’s basketball as a varsity sport for the 1969-70 season, it turned to an alumna to pioneer the team. Donna Lawson, a Marshall graduate from Chesapeake, W.Va., led the “Green Gals” to a perfect 7-0 record in their first season of competition and had run the win total to 138 when she retired from coaching 12 years later. In its second season of competition, Marshall was invited to the 1970-71 National Invitational Women’s Tournament, posting a 13-4 mark on the year. The 1971-72 team won its first 20 games of the season on the way to a 21-1 final record, taking the West Virginia State College Tournament championship and advancing to the AIAW Midwest Regional Tournament – something it would do for five consecutive seasons. Under Lawson, Marshall would win the West Virginia State College title six times. Lawson recruited and coached such notables as future Marshall Hall of Famers Beverly Duckwyler, Brenda Dennis, Deanna Carter-Natale, Dr. Robin Vealey and Tammie Green at Marshall. Lawson was inducted into the Marshall Athletic Hall of Fame in 1998.