For Immediate Release
Sunday, May 17, 2009

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. --- Georgia's Ashley Houts has been chosen as one of 14 finalists for the U.S. National Team that will compete in this summer's World University Games, USA Basketball announced on Sunday.

"It feels amazing," Houts said after being tabbed. "I think nerves were going through everybody this morning. It was a tough weekend, and it feels good to be named a finalist and have the opportunity to compete some more."

Twenty-seven of the nation's premier college players took part in the team trials, which began on Thursday and were conducted concurrently with tryouts for the U19 National Team for this summer's World Championships. The 14 World University Games finalists will return to Colorado Springs on June 18 and train through June 25. The final 12-player squad will then be announced before team departs for the World University Games in Belgrade, Serbia.

The World University Games is organized by the International University Sports Federation and held every other year. The women's basketball portion of the competition will take place July 1-11.

"I just tried to do what I do best, and that's play hard," Houts said. "I did enough to make enough to make it to the second round, and I'm just grateful for another opportunity to represent the USA."

Houts is one of seven finalists with previous gold medal-winning experience representing USA Basketball internationally. She was the lone rising sophomore named the U.S. squad that won the 2007 FIBA U21 World Championship in Moscow. Houts averaged 4.1 points per game for that unit, including 14 points in 16 minutes of action against Belgium in the quarterfinal round.

Additional finalists who have earned gold medals for the U.S. include Stanford's Jayne Appel and Kayla Pederson, Connecticut's Tina Charles, Tiffany Hayes and Maya Moore and Ohio State's Jantel Lavender. Rounding out the 14 players competing for roster spots are Alexis Gray-Lawson from Cal, Whitney Hand and Danielle Robinson from Oklahoma, Danielle McCray from Kansas, Jacinta Monroe from Florida State, Ta'Shia Phillips from Xavier and Jeanette Pohlen from Stanford.

The finalists were selected by the USA Basketball Women's Junior National Team Committee, which is chaired by Sue Donohue, the NCAA Vice President for Division I Women's Basketball.

Houts, a 5-6, rising senior from Trenton, Ga., is a two-time All-SEC performer and was the 2007 SEC Freshman of the Year. Houts broke her own Georgia single-season record for minutes played in 2008-09 by averaging 37.7 mpg, and she also led the Lady Bulldogs in scoring (12.0), assists (4.7), steals (2.2), assist-to-turnover ratio (1.36) and free throw percentage (.779) as a junior.

Houts is among a list of 25 current and former Lady Bulldogs who have represented USA Basketball in more than 40 competitions worldwide. Most notably, Teresa Edwards is the only American basketball player -- male or female -- to participate in five Olympic Games.