Slumping star Plum comes home
SEATTLE — Kelsey Plum set such a high standard during her college career that achieving immediate success at the same level as a professional was going to be challenging.
Throw in a severely sprained ankle that kept Plum out of the San Antonio Stars lineup for nearly a month, and the pro career for the greatest scorer in NCAA women’s basketball history hasn’t gotten off to the start many expected.
“It’s been difficult to try and get back, and not even to get back but play at the level I’m capable at,” Plum said. “It’s a tough shift regardless for rookies, so it’s been an experience for me that is going to help me in the long run. For now, it’s not easy.”
Plum returns to her college town this weekend when San Antonio faces the Storm. Seattle is where Plum became the NCAA’s all-time leading scorer, leading Washington into three consecutive NCAA tournaments and a Final Four.
It will be Plum’s first trip back since she was drafted No. 1 overall by the Stars. But it comes with Plum struggling on the court, something she rarely experienced in college.
“It’s definitely frustrating at times because I’m not moving the way I usually do. That change of speed is how I create things for me and my teammates so it’s frustrating,” Plum said.
Plum injured her right ankle in early May. It’s her first major injury since a knee issue in her sophomore year at Washington that she was able to play through while wearing a brace.
Plum has appeared in only seven games, never playing more than 28 minutes or scoring more than eight points. Sunday against Chicago, Plum was 0-for-4 shooting in 12 minutes and went scoreless. A loss Thursday to Los Angeles was even worse. Plum played just five minutes and went scoreless.
“I would think of it as at [Washington] every possession, every single time down the floor, I was called upon to score or create for my teammates,” she said.
“This is different because now I’m running offense, and yeah I do look to score and create, but it’s not the 100 percent ball goes through me. I have a lot of teammates that can create and do things. My workload is a lot different here.”