CHENEY, Wash.— Eastern Washington women's basketball alumni, Ashli Payne, will be inducted into the Kitsap Sports Hall of Fame as part of the 2023 class. Payne played two seasons for the Eagles from 2015-17.
Since graduating from EWU, Payne has played professionally in France for Roannais Feminin in the country's top league, National Feminine. She also had professional stops in Australia, Portugal, Finland and Ukraine.
Ashli was named Kitsap Sun girls basketball Player of the Year in 2013. The ceremony for the 2023 Hall of Fame class will be on Feb. 3, 2024 at the Kiana Lodge in Poulsbo, Wash.
At Eastern, she started all 63 games she played in, averaging 11.8 points with a career 41.3 shooting percentage and 742 total points. She had 88 made three-point shots and a 33.8 percentage from behind the arc. She also averaged 7.8 rebounds in her career - the sixth best average in program history - grabbing 489 total.
Payne earned Big Sky All-Conference Honorable Mention honors in 2016-17, averaging 12.3 points and 7.0 rebounds. During the 2017 Big Sky Tournament, she pulled down 18 rebounds in the Eastern's quarterfinal matchup against Sacramento State, a 100-97 win. That mark remains the most rebounds in program history for the Big Sky Tournament.
Payne earned All-Big Sky Academic Team honors in both seasons she played.
Prior to her time in Cheney, she played two seasons at Umpqua Community College and was a graduate of Olympic High School in Bremerton.
HISTORY OF THE KITSAP SPORTS HALL OF FAME
The Kitsap Hall of Fame traces its origins back to 1987. That year the Kitsap Oldtimers Association inducted its first class to the Hall of Fame. The Kitsap Oldtimers Association was dedicated to recognizing those in the community that stood out on the baseball or softball diamond. That included players, coaches, umpires, team sponsors and even those who wrote about the sport.
The KOA inducted 237 people before running out of steam in 2003. In 2005, the Kitsap Athletic Roundtable picked up the baton, absorbed the KOA and changed the name of the Hall of Fame. It also widened the scope of the Hall to include all sports.
Season tickets for EWU men's and women's basketball are now available and start as low as $100! Tickets for basketball and all EWU Athletics events are available at goeags.com/tickets or via the EWU Athletics Ticket Office at 509-359-6059.
ABOUT EASTERN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS
Eastern Washington University Athletics sponsors 14 intercollegiate sports, six for men and eight for women, both as learning opportunities for its most athletically talented students and as an enhancement to student and community life. Eastern is affiliated with Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and is a member of the Big Sky Conference, an association of 10 regional schools with comparable enrollments and academic goals.
FOLLOW THE EAGLES
SOCIAL: Twitter | Facebook | YouTube | Instagram
