For the past couple of weeks, Ashley Houts traded in her red and black for red, white and blue. Houts was one of 12 players selected to the USA U21 National Team on June 15 for the 2007 FIBA World Championships, held in Moscow, Russia. When the tournament ended July 8, Houts was wearing another color: gold.

The USA team defeated Australia 96-73 in the finals to claim the gold medal.

“It’s very cool, I’m really excited. I think we felt really special to be able to represent the country, and just play our game for the country. It was a great experience and I’m forever grateful for the opportunity,” Houts said.

The final game was satisfying to the team after narrowly escaping Australia in the opening game of the tournament 90-88; a game which Australia once led by 16 points.

“(In the first game) we came out and weren’t playing together, we couldn’t feel the chemistry out there,” Houts said. “I think it really woke us up and made us realize that people here don’t play around. It’s the world championships,” Houts said.

Houts, a 5’6″ rising sophomore point guard from Trenton, contributed off the bench for the U.S. throughout the tournament. As the youngest member of the under-21 team, she helped it to finish undefeated with an 8-0 record, with her best game coming in a 104-53 quarterfinal victory over Belgium. In that game, Houts scored 14 points and grabbed two rebounds in her 16 minutes of play.

With all of this experience under her belt at an international level, Houts wants to use what she has learned for the Lady Dogs next season and beyond.

“One of our main goals is to win the national championship, and hopefully on our way we can win one in the SEC,” Houts said. “It’s something I’ve always wanted, and my teammates want. I think we can get it accomplished. If we work hard enough, we can accomplish that.”

Georgia women’s basketball has been well represented this summer. Along with Houts, three time All-American Tasha Humphrey was named this week to the U.S. National Team for the Pan Am Games which will take place in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil.

In June, head women’s basketball coach Andy Landers was inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame and Cory Chambers was drafted into the WNBA.