LOS ANGELES — Washington guard Kelsey Plum’s postgame celebration Sunday consisted of hugs with family and friends, pictures with kids, autographs and then she was headed to ESPN’s nearby studios for a SportsCenter appearance, her second in two days.
Such is life for the nation’s leading scorer.
Plum scored 35 points to move into second place on the NCAA’s career scoring list and help No. 9 Washington beat Southern California 87-74.
Plum needed just three points to tie former Baylor star Brittney Griner on the list, and she hit a 3-pointer with 3:35 left in the first quarter to tie for second. Her free throw with 2:04 left in the first lifted her to second place behind former Missouri State star Jackie Stiles.
Stiles had 3,393 points, and Plum has 3,315. She needs 78 points to tie Stiles.
Asked about the list, she did what she always does in giving credit to the Huskies first.
“I was excited to get the win,” Plum said. “USC had been playing great. We lost to UCLA on Friday so we knew we needed to finish strong this weekend. Any split in the Pac-12 is a good split. It’s an honor. I’ve watched a ton of these amazing women on this list growing up as a kid. Obviously, they’re some of the best people to play. It’s just really cool.”
Chantel Osahor had 16 points and 12 rebounds and became Washington’s career rebounding leader, finishing the game with 1,150.
Minyon Moore led USC (14-13, 5-11) with 20 points, and Kristen Simon had 17 points and 13 rebounds.
USC’s emphasis was on defending Plum.
“I thought we made it tough for Kelsey all game long,” USC coach Cynthia Cooper-Dyke said. “We doubled her when we could and it made sense. We had a player constantly shadowing her for her penetration.
“We had a couple defensive letdowns, and of course, Kelsey being Kelsey took full advantage of them. She’s just a fantastic player. We doubled her. We had a post player playing shadow defense and sometimes we let her get too deep. Sometimes, she’s really difficult to stop when she gets going.”
Plum had 20 points in the second quarter as Washington (25-4, 13-3 Pac-12) opened a 54-35 lead. She scored 39 points two days earlier in a loss to UCLA, giving her 74 points in Los Angeles over the weekend.
