Moving from a small Montana town to Seattle was no problem for this freshman, as she went on to average more than 17 points per game for the University of Washington.

Loree Payne burst into the Pac-10 this past season and left opponents in her dust. The six-foot freshman guard shattered the University of Washington's previous freshman scoring record of 475 points when she dropped 521 points through the net in the course of all 30 season games that she started, an average of 17.4 points per game.

Payne grew up in Havre, Montana, a small town 40 minutes south of the Canadian border and 90 minutes from Great Falls. While at Havre High School, she averaged 25 points a game on her way to a career point total of 2,299 points. She was twice selected as the Gatorade Circle of Champions Montana High School Girls Basketball Player of the Year, was named a 1998 Nike All-American, and was chosen as the Montana USA Today 1999 Player of the Year. Payne was also a fierce competitor in volleyball and track and field, racking up numerous honors in those sports, too.

While the Huskies had a tough 8-22 season, Payne's achievements did not go unnoticed. She has been one of 50 college players nation-wide selected to try out for the 2000 R. William Jones Cup Team Trials at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colordao Springs, Colo. From the trials, 12 players will be asked to represent the U.S. in competing for the Jones Cup. The tournament will be held July 16-20 in Taipei, Taiwan. The team will also get to show its stuff on television September 3, when it faces the U.S. Women's Olympic Team in Hawai'i.

Gball: When did you start playing basketball?
Loree Payne: I started when I was pretty young. I have an older sister, she's seven years older than me, and so she got into the camps when she got into junior high. I was really young then and I started too. The first time I played organized basketball was in fifth grade, and then it carried through junior high.

When did you realize that you loved basketball?
I would say that once I got into junior high, my competitive nature really came out. I really enjoyed playing and that's when I started taking it seriously. I started going to camps and really got going.

How many sports did you play in high school?
I did volleyball and track, but my senior year I did not do track because I really wanted to do some running and get in the weight room so I could get ready for college.

Basketball was definitely my favorite sport. I just did the other ones for fun.

We have heard that in Montana, huge crowds turn out to watch high school girls' basketball. Was it like that at your high school?
At our high school we averaged almost 2000 people a game. Our girls' basketball program outdrew the Montana State women's program, but the University of Montana gets great crowds--they average 4000 or 5000 a game. People just love women's basketball in Montana. I don't know why. We outdrew the guys' games too, so it isn't just the sport. They just love watching girls' basketball.

What made you decide that you wanted to come to the University of Washington?
I think it's a really prestigious program and it's a great school academically. It was close to home, yet it was in a great conference. After I decided I wanted to stay close to home, it came down between Montana and Washington. Then the choice was obvious--I wanted to go Pac 10. I was looking at Stanford and Arizona, too, but they were just a little too far away. But I wanted to be in that conference, so I went with Washington.

Is there a style of play in the Pac-10 that you really like?
I really like the fast tempo, press-and-run game. It's the kind of game that June [Daugherty] has us working toward and I really liked that aspect of it.

What is it like playing for Coach Daugherty?
June is great. She is one of the few coaches that really cares about her players. She always asks how our families are doing, and she genuinely cares about us off the court. And I think that she's really positive. She brings a lot of positiveness and family-orientation on to the court. She always finds something good about the things that we do, yet she points out what we need to get better at, our weaknesses.

I think she has this program going in a really positive direction. I think that our building from this is just going to go up.

The team had a tough season this past year. What kinds of things do you think you and your teammates are going to be working on next season?
We were a really young team this year. I think it was a rebuilding year for us. I think every program has to start somewhere--Tennessee and UConn weren't always number one in the nation. I think that this is a building block for our program. We really established where we want to be and we have the people here that have the goals and the motivation and drive to reach those goals. I think that we're all getting on the same page, and that we're really going to move in a positive direction from here.

What was the transition like from high school to college?
It was tough, especially coming from a town of 12,000 people to Seattle. That was a huge transition for me. My first lecture hall was as big as my whole high school--there were 700 people in my lecture hall and that's how many people were in my whole high school.

I think the conditioning and the physical part of the game, strength-wise is a huge transition. With me being a guard it wasn't as drastic as say a post, the physical aspect of it wasn't as much, but it was still noticeable. It's one of my weaknesses. We're in the weight room now and we're really working individually on our weaknesses and that's mine. From the high school to the college game, it's a lot more physical.

I think that the physical aspect was tough but also the mental aspect. I mean, you're going from a season of three months to a season of six months. It's just draining--films, practice, scouting, weights. Time management was a tough one. You don't have any time so it's getting things organized and getting things done that you need to get done.

I know that no one from your high school came to the University of Washington with you. What was your first year like socially?
I think that when you come on a team, you're automatically given 15 best friends. You spend so much time together with the team that that's pretty much your family. So, we've grown a lot of friendships on the team and I think that those are the ones that are going to stick because that's who you're spending all your time with. We have a great group of girls out here and it's fun getting to know them and meeting the new ones as they come in. I couldn't ask for a better group of girls to be surrounded by.

What was it like for you moving from a small town to a big city like Seattle?
I really like it. Around the university there's a small community, and that's where you stay. It's a reminder of a smaller town. You don't have to go too far out of your limits but then you can. There's so many options here. You can go to a Seahawks game or a Mariners game or a Sonics game. Everything is right there to do. That's the one thing that I love, that there's so much to do here that when you actually do get a couple of minutes and a little bit of free time, you can go do some stuff and you don't have to drive four hours to do something.

What was the academic transition like for you?
It wasn't too bad. I've always been pretty focused in the classroom. School came easy to me. I know what needs to be done in the classroom and that has to be your number one priority in any aspect of the student-athlete package. The professors are really good with working with you when you're out of town. It was a lot different from high school, but it wasn't too bad of an adjustment.

Do you have a major?
I'm still undecided. I'm looking at psychology or sociology. I want to go into coaching--I want to be a coach, so whatever is going to get me the best foundation for being a coach is what I'll choose.

What are your goals for when you finish college?
Definitely now that there's an option to play at the next level with the WNBA, that's one option that I'm going to look hard at. That would be a great option when I get there.

Eventually, I want to get married and have kids, do the whole family thing. But actually I'd like after college to step in and play in the WNBA or go into coaching.

Will you be attending Seattle Storm games?
Definitely. It's great to have a professional women's basketball team back up here in Seattle. We know a lot of the girls because some of them come down and play with us now in our spring open gym. It's fun going to watch people that you know.

How did you feel when you found out that you had been selected to try out for the Jones Cup team?
Very nervous, but excited. That's what it's all about. It's going and improving your game in the spring and travelling around and meeting new people. If I'm fortunate enough to make it, it will be a great experience. Going to Taiwan and back to Hawai'i, it will be great. But, if not, I'll get a lot of great experience playing with some of the best players in the nation.

You started all 30 games last season and shattered the freshman scoring record. Are you feeling a lot of pressure to continue to have that kind of season next year?
That's my nature, I really strive for a challenge. The coaches have a lot of expectations, but I have a lot of expectations for myself. I just want this team to be successful. If that means me being a scorer on the team, that's what I'm going to do. It's all about the team and what's going to get us to where we want to be.

Interview conducted in April by Gball Assistant Editor Lorraine Berry.