PULLMAN, Wash. - Before even beginning her journey at Washington State, freshman Ula Motuga has made a name for herself as the first-year Cougar earned a spot on the U-18 Australian National Team. Known as the Gems by Basketball Australia, the young national team will play in the FIBA Under-18 Asia Championships to be held in Bengaluru, India from October 28-November 3.

While the rest of the women's basketball team spent the summer training in Pullman, Motuga spent her summer, or winter in Australia, taking part in a pair of training camps for the Gems at Basketball Australia's Centre of Excellence. Her hard work at the camps paid off when she was named to the 18-player squad on Tuesday afternoon. At the Asia Championships, Motuga and the Gems have a chance to qualify for the 2019 U-19 World Cup if they can take home a top-four finish at the tournament. The Australians finished sixth in the World Cup in 2018.

Motuga has had experience wearing her country's uniform when she was picked to play for the Australian U-18 3x3 National Team at the World Championships in China. Playing for her state team of Queensland, Motuga won a gold medal in the U-16 national tournament in 2015 while taking a silver medal with the U-18 team last year while averaging eight points and eight rebounds per game. Earlier this year, she was promoted to the Queensland's U-20 team to play in the 2018 U-20 National Championships as well as the Ivor Burge Championships.