Atlanta ? Maybe it was the bus ride. Or maybe it’s because she has done it all before.

Whatever the reason, Tennessee’s Kara Lawson was a little confused Saturday, even as she took in the vastness of the Georgia Dome.

“To me, it doesn’t really feel like a Final Four. We took a bus down here,” she said, laughing at the thought. “That was kind of weird. It was like we were just going down the road to play a conference game or something.”

Make no mistake, this is no routine Southeastern Conference game. The Vols (32-4) will play Duke (35-1) in the national semifinals tonight, with the winner advancing to Tuesday night’s championship game to face Texas or Connecticut.

And that’s where Lawson, a senior guard, wants to end a career that has had many more highs than lows. This is her third Final Four, and Tennessee has won the SEC championship every year she’s been there.

But Tennessee teams are judged on whether they win national championships. The Vols have six, after all, twice as many as anyone else. But the last title came in 1998, and no one on this team has experienced winning one. This is the last chance for Lawson and the team’s other senior, Gwen Jackson.

“For me as a person, I feel like I’ve already had a successful career,” Lawson said. “But as a competitor, as a basketball player, everyone here came to win a championship. That’s what we’re here to do. We want to come away from our college experience with a national championship ring.”

A fiery sort who lets her emotions show, Lawson has been the ultimate senior, cajoling teammates and demanding the ball in tight situations.

She also produces, averaging 14.5 points and shooting 46 percent from three-point range. And perhaps the ultimate compliment: Coach Pat Summitt says Lawson is playing the best defense of her career.

“I think both Gwen and Kara have led by example all year,” junior Tasha Butts said. “They play every possession hard. I think they’ve done a great job of leading this team and keeping everyone focused. I’ve seen a different side of them all year than I saw last year.”

That determination intensified in the tournament. Lawson and Jackson were set on getting to Atlanta. Playing the first four rounds at home, the two players helped the Vols win by an average of 23.6 points.

“This is your do-or-die point,” Lawson said. “Any game we played this tournament could have been the last game of our career. We’ve had that feeling, that extra push the entire NCAA Tournament.”

That won’t matter if the Vols can’t handle Duke’s Alana Beard, who was a unanimous first-team All-American and runner-up to UConn’s Diana Taurasi for player of the year.

“It’s like we still have something to achieve,” Beard said. “Last year we were satisfied making it to the Final Four because we only had eight players. This year we don’t want to leave here empty-handed.”