Plum’s 44 points lift UW women to 99-77 win over Oregon

Published 10:51 pm Friday, December 30, 2016

EUGENE, Ore. — Washington coach Mike Neighbors believes senior Kelsey Plum’s best performance will come more out of necessity than the pursuit of any scoring record.

“She’s going to have 60 some game,” Neighbors said. “There’s going to be a game where she’s really on and we’re going to need her to play every minute.”

Plum scored 44 points, Chantel Osahor had 18 points and 12 rebounds, and No. 9 Washington rolled to a 99-77 Pac-12 victory over Oregon on Friday.

Heather Corral added a career-high 19 points with five 3-pointers for the Huskies (14-1, 2-0), who won their 11th consecutive game since losing at then-No. 1 Notre Dame six weeks ago.

Plum exceeded her nation-leading 29.6-point average in the third quarter and added 14 in the fourth for her third 44-point game of the season. She was 14 of 23 from the field and 13 of 15 at the foul line to go with five rebounds and four assists.

Plum, who missed her career high by one point, now has 2,876, a Pac-12 career record.

“She’s got an incredible knack to stress the defense and yet still be able to share the ball,” Neighbors said. “It’s not like a shot-hunting expedition and she’s not a stat-stuffer.”

Unless the Ducks and Huskies meet in the postseason, it was the last time Oregon coach Kelly Graves will have to face the prolific Plum.

“She’s a testament to hard work, to understanding the game, to paying attention to detail, to working her butt off, getting herself in shape,” Graves said. “She’s not the greatest athlete in the world, but she is just a great competitor.”

Ruthy Hebard led the Ducks (10-3, 0-1) with 25 points, and Justine Hall added 13. Oregon played without its starting backcourt of Sabrina Ionescu and Maite Cazorla because of injuries.

Washington weathered a hot start by Oregon, which hit 9 of its first 12 shots, to lead 25-21 after one quarter and 51-39 at the half. The Huskies dribbled out their last possession rather than try for their sixth game of 100 points or more.

“Washington is a great team,” Graves said. “I watched everybody in the Pac-12 over the break, and they’re playing better than anybody. I don’t think it’s even that close.”

Osahor, the nation’s leading rebounder at 13.9 per game, led Washington to a 26-26 draw on the boards. The Huskies, who also lead the nation in made 3-pointers, were 10 of 21 beyond the arc.

Corral, who missed four games with an injury to her shooting hand, made four 3s in the first quarter. Washington was 8 of 15 from long range by halftime.

“It’s what we do, we do shoot a lot of 3s,” Neighbors said. “Again, the stress that it puts on defenses.”

“If you come off (Corral) for an inch, she’s going to make it.”

Oregon St. 80, Washington St. 58

CORVALLIS, Ore. — Marie Gulich had career highs of 27 points and 13 rebounds to help No. 22 Oregon State beat Washington State.

Former Lynnwood High School standout Mikayla Pivec added eight points, nine rebounds and five assists for the Beavers.

Stanford 64, Arizona St. 57

TEMPE, Ariz. — Erica McCall had her sixth double-double of the season, Karlie Samuelson scored 16 and No. 13 Stanford scored the last six points in its win over No. 18 Arizona State.

USC 79, Colorado 54

LOS ANGELES — Sadie Edwards and Courtney Jaco combined for 30 points and powered Southern Cal to a dismantling of 20th-ranked Colorado.

UCLA 67, Utah 56

LOS ANGELES — Jordin Canada had 18 points and seven assists to lead No. 10 UCLA to a victory over previously unbeaten Utah In the Pac-12 opener for both teams Friday night.

Everett 83, South Puget Sound 63

MOUNT VERNON — Shorecrest alumna Uju Chibuogwu tallied 18 points and 12 rebounds as the Trojans claimed fourth place in the Skagit Valley Holiday Tournament. Alexis Biggerstaff added 19 points and Chibuogwu was named to the All-tournament team.

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Oregon 84, USC 61

EUGENE, Ore. — Dillon Brooks scored a season-high 28 points and Dylan Ennis added 21 to lead No. 21 Oregon to a victory over No. 22 Southern California, the Trojans’ first loss of the season.

Arizona St. 98, Stanford 93

STANFORD, Calif. — Torian Graham scored a career-high 30 points and Arizona State held off Stanford in the Pac-12 opener for both teams.

UCLA 76, Oregon St. 63

CORVALLIS, Ore. — Lonzo Ball had 23 points, including four 3-pointers, and No. 2 UCLA rebounded from a loss to Oregon earlier in the week with a victory over Oregon State.

Arizona 67, California 62

BERKELEY, Calif. — Dusan Ristic scored 16 points and No. 18 Arizona overcame a sluggish and sloppy first half to beat California on Friday night in the Pac-12 opener for both teams.

Seattle 80, UC Santa Barbara 76

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — Brendan Westendorf scored 13 of his 28 points in the final three minutes to almost single-handedly cap a furious comeback as Seattle defeated UC Santa Barbara.

Everett 92, Yakima Valley 90

OREGON CITY, Ore. — The Trojans took third at the Clackamas Holiday Tournament, nipping the Yaks behind former Cascade standout Brevin Brown’s game-high 28 points.

Dartavious Young added 21 points and 19 rebounds for Everett (7-5).