University of Puget Sound

The 2016-17 season was Loree Payne's seventh season as the Loggers' head coach, a year in which she was named Northwest Conference Head Coach of the Year for the second consecutive season. She led the Loggers to the program's first ever outright regular-season title with an undefeated NWC record. During the 2016-17 season, the Loggers reached the NWC Tournament championship game for the third consecutive year, and Puget Sound hosted the first two rounds of the NCAA D-III Tournament.

Payne earned 2015-16 NWC Coach of the Year, while senior Emily Sheldon was named the NWC Player of the Year. Payne picked up her 100th career victory when Puget Sound topped Linfield on the road, Feb. 12, 2016.

Payne led the Loggers to one of the most successful seasons in program history during the 2014-15 campaign. Puget Sound matched a program-record 24 wins en route to an NCAA Tournament berth. The Loggers won their first-round contest against Claremont-M-S, before falling to George Fox. The Loggers remained the national ranks for most of the season, and peaked at No. 18 in the D3hoops.com poll. Amanda Forshay and Emily Sheldon were both named All-NWC First Team selections, and Katy Ainslie was named to the All-NWC Second Team.

During her first year at Puget Sound (2010-11), Payne led the Loggers to an 18-8 overall record and an 11-5 record in NWC games. The Loggers finished third in the NWC and made the NWC Tournament for the sixth consecutive year.

Prior to her time at Puget Sound, Payne served as an assistant at her alma mater - the University of Washington from 2007-10 where she was the recruiting coordinator. She also spent the previous three years as an assistant coach at the University of Portland and one year at Northwest Nazarene.

A native of Havre, Mont., Payne has spent her entire basketball career in the Northwest. As a player, Payne was dominant on the court as well as in the classroom. After being named to the Pacific-10 All-Freshmen team in 2000, Payne led the Huskies to three consecutive postseason appearances from 2001-03, including a berth in the Elite 8 of the 2001 Women's NCAA Tournament.

She was also a two-time All-Pac-10 player as a junior and senior as well as a three-time All-Academic Pac-10 honoree to round out a stellar playing career. Payne's name still appears in the Huskies record books where she currently holds or shares six school records.

After her freshman year, Payne was selected to play for the 2000 USA national team. She helped the USA team to a gold medal finish in the Jone's Cup in Taiwan. She was also inducted into the Montana High School Association Hall of Fame in 2009.

Overall Coaching Record at Puget Sound
(7 seasons)