Monarchs guard Kara Lawson, a native of Alexandria, Va., played in her first All-Star Game last weekend in D.C. Jennifer Pottheiser/NBAE/Getty Images

Kara Lawson hasn't started a game yet this season for the defending Western champion Sacramento Monarchs. But when Sue Bird decided to undergo surgery on her knee prior to the All-Star Game, making her unavailable for the midsummer classic in Washington, D.C., league President Donna Orender called on the fifth-year pro out of Tennessee.

And the numbers back up Orender's selection. Through Thursday, Lawson is averaging a career-high 11.4 points and 2.2 assists a night, both good for third on the team despite coming off the bench in all 20 games. Lawson sat down during All-Star Weekend to chat with WNBA.com's Adam Hirshfield about her thoughts on the season's first half and her hopes for the second half.

What are your thoughts on the first half of the year?

Lawson: "I think we are right in the mix of playoff contention, which is where you want to be. We have always been a team that has set a goal of wanting to be in the playoffs. Sure it would be nice to be the No. 1 seed, it would be nice to have home court advantage, but we feel like with the type of system that we have, the type of players that we have, we are built for the playoffs. We feel confident that if we get in, we can make some noise.

"At the same time, I think our first half, the excitement of being 12-8, which is a pretty good record in this league, is kind of tempered by the fact that we closed the first half with back-to-back losses. So we still have a lot of growth as a team and we just hope that as we have the last two years, we play our best basketball in the month of August and into September. I still feel like we have a lot more room for growth and a lot of ways we can improve, but it is up to us to do that. I am sure every team says that at the halfway point, but we have been one of the few teams that have been able to put it into practice the last few years. The experience of being able to do that should pay dividends for us the second half of this year."

What are some of the things you think you need to improve on as a team?

Lawson: "We need to get more consistent on the defensive end. That is the biggest thing for us. The success we have had as a team has been because of that end of the floor, so we have to be more consistent for longer stretches during the game. We have to rebound better. We have not been as good of a rebounding team as we have been in the last couple of years. Turning the ball over has been an area we haven't really struggled with in previous years, but this year it seems to be an issue for us. So taking care of the basketball is important because that forces teams to play against our half-court defense. It is a lot harder to score against us when we are in our half-court defense and we have that set than it is when teams are getting out in transition and able to break us down early. We want to play that game and that half-court defense for 40 minutes and we feel like that gives us a chance to win games."

What do you think about the impact Jenny Boucek has had since coming on as head coach?

Lawson: "I think she has done a tremendous job. When you look at the expectations of taking over our organization… with the success our organization has had, a lot of veteran players, a lot of experienced players, she came in and kept a lot of the basics and foundational principles the same.

"But she has made some tweaks and made it her own, particularly on the offensive end. We are a vastly different team on that end. We have a little bit more diversity in our attack this year, which I think has been good. It has allowed players to have a little bit more of an impact on the offensive end. (Rebekkah) Brunson and Nicole (Powell) are having great years. I think they benefited from the offensive system a little bit and then, of course, from more playing time. That is something that as you grow as a player, you start to take on that go-to role for us. That is part of the maturation process and they stepped into that and have done a tremendous job of being consistent game in and game out. I think that is the hardest thing for young players: to learn to be consistent every game."

Who do you see as your biggest rival in the West?

Lawson: "The natural rivalry is probably L.A., just because of our history with them. I know when I first came to the Monarchs, they were the two-time defending champs and the West went through L.A. If you wanted to get to the Finals or win a championship, you had to beat them. My first two years, I was in the league trying to figure out how to defeat them. In the last three years, the tables have turned a little bit and we are the team now that has been the dominant force in the West. They play us and try to get that edge and have a feather in their cap when they beat us. It is a great rivalry and the fans really get into it -- Sacramento, Northern California, Southern California -- so it is a great thing."

What about the other Western playoff contenders like San Antonio, Seattle and Phoenix?

Lawson: "If the playoffs started today, those three teams would be the teams in it. All those teams scare you in the sense that they have so much firepower. They have players that have the ability to take over games and will their team to win. They are built a little bit differently than we are in that they have huge amounts of star power. They are teams you have to be very focused on when you are playing. And Seattle, you don't feel like they have gotten it together just yet, but when they do get it together, they are as talented as any team in this league and the way Lauren's been playing all year has been fun to watch for me as a fan."

Where do you think you will finish in the West? Are the Finals your goal again this season?

Lawson: "Definitely, but we don't really talk about the Finals and the championship that much. Like I said before, we talk about getting into the playoffs. You have to punch your ticket first. Our goal is to continue to get better and improve and try to be one of those four teams that make it in. It is close every year in the West, and even though we have won it the past two years it has not been easy. I think we understand the challenges that are going to present themselves down the road. I think we feel confident in our experience and we want another opportunity, another crack at it. Anytime you go to the championship and you lose in the last game, you want a chance to redeem yourself and rectify what happened. It doesn't matter who it is against, whether it is Detroit or whoever comes out of the East. You get that feeling, you taste that… then you get back and you're that close to tasting it again, so there is a great hunger in all of our players to get back there."