Kelsey Plum surpasses 3,000 career points as Washington women win at Arizona

TUCSON, Ariz. – Kelsey Plum became the 12th player in women’s college-basketball history to surpass 3,000 career points and didn’t seem to think it was that big of a deal.

“I mean, it’s an honor to be part of that list,” the Washington senior guard said, “but I was really concerned about the win. You know, the Pac-12 is tough. Any given night, anything can happen, and this is not a game we wanted to give up.”

There wasn’t much chance of that.

Plum scored 36 points and the No. 8 Huskies rolled past Arizona 90-73 on Friday night.

The nation’s leading scorer at 31 points per game, Plum made 12 of 19 field goals and 10 of 11 free throws to lead the Huskies (17-2 overall, 5-1 Pac-12) to their third straight conference victory.

Plum became the first player, man or woman, to top 3,000 points since the conference became the Pac-12 and the first woman from a conference school to do it since Cheryl Miller of USC in 1986.

“Everything we’ve ever asked her to do, she’s done it, and she keeps improving,” Huskies coach Mike Neighbors said of Plum. “The records mean nothing to her, the wins do. But the fact that she’s been able to do it, set records, while raising the level of play on our team and in our league, I think is the true beauty of what she’s been able to do.”

Arizona first-season coach Adia Barnes couldn’t help but be proud to watch Plum’s performance. Barnes was an assistant coach at Washington before getting the job in Tucson.

“We have a ton of history,” Plum said of Barnes. “She recruited me in high school. We’re from San Diego. I can hear her talking the whole game. She’s just been awesome in my development as a women’s basketball player. It was kind of a weird feeling to see her on the other side, you know, the bad guys, but it was cool at the same time.”

Barnes was pleased her Wildcats played so hard throughout against UW.

“It’s good to see their success,” Barnes said of the Huskies. “I wish Kelsey wouldn’t have had so much success against us, but she’s a great player. She’s a tough matchup. We threw different looks at her, and she did her thing. That’s why she just scored over 3,000 points, why she’s one of the best players in the country.”

Plum has 3,007 points — 11 fewer than Miller, who is 10th on the career list.

LaBrittney Jones scored 20 points to lead Arizona (10-6, 1-4).

Washington was without starter Heather Corral after she injured a knee in the shootaround Friday.

The Huskies visit No. 19 Arizona State on Sunday.

“I have never beaten Arizona State in my career,” Plum said.

Defeating the Sun Devils, Plum said, “would mean twice as much as 3,000 points.”