May 22, 2000
Payne Named to 2000 USA Basketball Jones Cup Team SEATTLE, Wash. - Washington freshman basketball player Loree Payne (Havre, Mont.) has been selected to the USA Basketball Women's R. William Jones Cup Team. Payne was selected from a pool of 50 elite college players who participated in try-outs May 17-21 at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. The 12 member team will train July 2-12 in Colorado before they depart for competition July 16-20 in Taipei, Taiwan. Payne, the Huskies' leading scorer (17.4 ppg) as a freshman in 1999-2000 was the only player selected from the Pac-10 conference. The USA Basketball Jones Cup squad will be headed by Virginia Tech head mentor Bonnie Henrickson. St. Joseph's University (Pa.) head coach Stephanie Gaitley and Grambling State University (La.) head mentor David "Rusty" Ponton will serve as assistant coaches for the Jones Cup team. "It's an awesome feeling to have the opportunity to represent the USA," Payne said from Colorado. "I've never been overseas and I'm looking forward to the experience. I'm so excited and honored to be a part of all this." The United States, winners of the gold medal when it last competed in the Jones Cup in 1998, has collected eight gold medals, four silver medals and four bronze medals in 18 Jones Cup competitions and boasts a 110-22 (.833) overall record. "It is an outstanding accomplishment to see Loree, this young in her collegiate career, be selected to such a prestigious team," UW head coach June Daugherty said. "She has worked hard on her game throughout the spring and it will be great to see her compete on this team." The last Husky to compete on the USA Basketball team was Rhonda Smith during the summer of 1997. |
