COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. -  The United States Olympic Committee (USOC) announced today the selection of Lisa Leslie and Dremiel Byers as its September 2002 Athletes of the Month.  Team of the Month honors were awarded to the USA Women's Basketball Team.     For the men, Byers (Ft. Carson, Colo.) won a gold medal at 120 kg/264.5 pounds at the Greco-Roman World Wrestling Championships, held in Moscow, Russia, Sept. 20-22.  Byers was the lone U.S. medalist, and led the U.S. squad to fifth place in the team standings.  Byers becomes the fourth U.S. wrestler to win a World Championship gold medal, joining Mike Houck (1985), Dennis Hall (1995) and Rulon Gardner (2001).     In the gold-medal finals, Byers scored a 3-0 victory over Mihaly Deak-Bardos of Hungary, the same athlete that Gardner defeated in the gold-medal match at the 2001 World Championships.  Byers scored a throw on every opponent he faced in the tournament, winning five matches on the way to the title. In his pool competition, Byers stopped Jidong Song of China, 6-0, and pinned 2000 Olympic bronze medalist Dzmitry Debelka of Belarus in 3:14. Byers needed three wins on the final day of competition to secure his title. In the quarterfinals, he defeated Youri Evseytchik of Israel, 3-1, in overtime.  Trailing 1-0 at the end of regulation, Byers wore down Evseytchik in the clinch before throwing him to his back 30 seconds into overtime to earn the win. In the semifinals, he stopped an emerging star, 2001 World bronze medalist Xenofon Koutsioubas of Greece, by a 4-1 margin to advance to the finals.     It was Byers second World Championships appearance, as he placed sixth in the 1999 World Championships. That season, Byers was named USA Wrestling Greco-Roman Wrestler of the Year.    2002 U.S. Open singles champion Pete Sampras (White Plains, N.Y.) took second place for his September performances. Boxer Juan McPherson (Cleveland, Ohio) landed third in the men's category for his achievements.      Leslie (Los Angeles, Calif.) garnered the Athlete of the Month title after being named the 2002 FIBA World Championship MVP.  She led the USA to a 9-0 record and the gold medal averaging 17.2 points and 8.1 rebounds a game while playing just 22.6 (out of 40) minutes a game.  Among all World Championship competitors in the 16-nation field, Leslie ranked fourth in points, tied for third in rebounds, finished as the fourth leading shot blocker (0.9 bpg.), ranked 13th in steals (2.0 spg.) and 19th in field goal percentage (.523).  She finished as the USAíss leading scorer in three games, including 24 points in the semifinal against Australia.  Leslie also scored 17 points in the gold medal game, including five consecutive points with the U.S. holding a slim 72-71 margin, to secure the win.  Held every four years, the 14th FIBA World Championship took place Sept. 14-25 in China.  Leslie is now the USAíss World Championship career record holder for points (393/15.1 ppg.), rebounds (190/7.3 rpg.) and games played (26) through three World Championships (1994, 1998, 2002).    Finishing second among females nominated was Women's Eight rower Kate MacKenzie (Princeton, N.J.)  In third place was USA Softball's Lori Harrigan (Oklahoma City, Okla.)    The USA Women's Basketball Team earned the Team of the Month award after posting a perfect 9-0 record en route to the gold medal at the 14th FIBA World Championship.  The 14th FIBA World Championship featured 16 nations competing Sept. 14-25 in China.  The U.S. dominated its opponents in every aspect during the tournament and finished among the top five in every major statistical category;  ranked at the top of the 16-nation field in scoring offense (88.6 ppg.) and defense (54.7 ppg.), scoring margin (33.9 ppg.), rebounds (41.9 rpg.) and defensive field goal percentage (.352); finished second in free throw percentage (.779); was third in field goal percentage (.488) and rebounding margin (10.8); and fifth in 3-point field goal percentage.  The USAíss defensive pressure also resulted in the lowest U.S. opponents scoring average dating back to the fourth World Championship in 1964 - well before the days of the 3-pointer and full court game that we know today.  Prior to the World Championship, the U.S. captured the Opals World Challenge in Australia (Sept. 6-10) with a 4-0 record against three of the then top-five teams in the world - Australia, Brazil and France. After earning three victories in round-robin play, the U.S. defeated Australia for a second time in the title game.    Team members are Sue Bird  (Seattle Storm/Syosset, N.Y.), Tamika Catchings  (Indiana Fever/Duncanville, Texas), Tamecka Dixon (Los Angeles Sparks/Linden, N.J.), Jennifer Gillom (Phoenix Mercury/Abbeville, Miss.), Shannon Johnson (Orlando Miracle/Hartsville, S.C.), Lisa Leslie (Los Angeles Sparks/Los Angeles, Calif.), DeLisha Milton (Los Angeles Sparks/Riceboro, Ga.), Tari Phillips (New York Liberty/Orlando, Fla.), Katie Smith     (Minnesota Lynx/Logan, Ohio), Dawn Staley (Charlotte Sting/Philadelphia, Pa.), Sheryl Swoopes (Houston Comets/Brownfield, Texas), and Natalie Williams (Utah Starzz/       Taylorsville, Utah.)       Placing second for the team honor was the U.S Women's Eight.  The Men's Paralympic Wheelchair Basketball Team captured third among the team honorees.     RESULTS: (First place points)    Men  Dremiel Byers - 50 (36)  Pete Sampras -  27 (21)   Juan McPherson - 25 (9)  Also receiving first place votes: Clint Jones, Paul Schulte    Women  Lisa Leslie - 52 (39)  Kate MacKenzie - 30 (15)  Lori Harrigan - 17 (6)  Also receiving first place votes: Jen Warkins, Debbie McDonald, Serena Williams, Shelia Taormina    Team  USA Women's Basketball Team -  54 (39)  USA's Womeníss Eight Rowing -  25 (12)  Men's Paralympic Wheelchair Basketball Team -  21 (9)  Also receiving first place votes: U.S. Womeníss Volleyball Team, USA Softball Team, Eventing Equestrian