Plum’s 57 help her set career mark
Kelsey Plum was ready for her chase of the NCAA all-time scoring record to come to an end. For the final regular-season game of her college career, Washington’s star orchestrated the finest performance of her career and one of the best in NCAA history.
Plum carried No. 11 Washington to an 84-77 victory over Utah on Saturday in Seattle. She scored a career-best 57 points — a Pac-12 record — to reach 3,397 and put an end to her quest of tracking down Jackie Stiles and the number 3,393.
“I’m glad it’s over. It was getting to a point where it was almost disheartening in a way because people expect so much and I understand,” Plum said. “I’m grateful for it. We’re going to talk about it and give it credit, but now that it’s behind us I’m very grateful for that too.”
Plum needed 54 points entering the day to break the record set by Stiles at Southwest Missouri State (now Missouri State). Plum did it did it with a second-half barrage in which she couldn’t be stopped.
“We tried everything. And she just kind of took over . ... It was almost like she became possessed,” Utah coach Lynne Roberts said. “Even as the opposing coach you stand there like ‘Holy cow. This kid.’ ”
Plum hit 19 of 28 shots and was 13-of-16 at the free-throw line. She had 38 points through three quarters and took over in the fourth after teammate Chantel Osahor fouled out early in the quarter.
Washington (27-4, 15-3 Pac-12) needed all of her points to hold off a challenge from Utah (16-13, 5-13).
#1 UConn 91, Memphis 48: Katie Lou Samuelson scored 29 points as the host Huskies (28-0, 15-0 American Athletic) extended their record winning streak to 103 games.
#4 Baylor 86, Texas Tech 48: Nina Davis scored 16 points, coach Kim Mulkey reached her 500th career victory and the host Bears (27-2, 16-1) claimed their seventh straight Big 12 regular-season title.
USF 84, Pepperdine 78: Rachel Howard scored 37 points in her final game at War Memorial Gym and Anna Seiland added 17 points and 10 rebounds as the Dons (17-12, 11-7 WCC) finished the regular season with a win. Yas Robinson-Bacote led the Waves (7-22, 5-13) with 29 points.
St. Mary’s 73, Santa Clara 58: Sydney Raggio had 17 points and nine rebounds as the visiting Gaels (18-11, 13-5 WCC) and Broncos (14-15, 9-9) finished the regular season. Marie Bertholdt’s 13 points led Santa Clara.
Boise St. 69, San Jose St. 61: Shalen Shaw had 26 points and nine rebounds to lead the visiting Broncos (20-7, 10-6 Mountain West). Dezz Ramos led the Spartans (10-18, 7-9) with 27 points.