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The original architect of basketball, James Naismith, developed his idea using an old peach basket. The University of Washington's Kelsey Plum is tossing up the proverbial peach, filling up score sheets at a rate that would make her the apple of the famed inventor's eye.
About half way through the regular season, the third week of the Pac-12 conference gauntlet came to a conclusion last week. The Husky's 5'8" superstar senior guard's stellar play earned conference player of the week honors, and more importantly became the 12th players in women’s college basketball history to surpass 3,000 career points. Not surprisingly, she was more concerned with winning the game than achieving that remarkable milestone.
On the season she has scored nearly one third of all the points tallied by the 5th most productive offensive team in women's NCAA basketball. Kelsey Plum has piloted the Husky women to their current #6 ranking in the nation, prompting discussion in the national title conversation.
When you have a shooter hitting the mark like Plum, your squad poses an ominous threat in any one and you're done tournament. While team goals always come first, the sharp-shooting 2016 WBCA All-American and Naismith Award finalist has a pair of noteworthy career achievements within in her grasp.
The Lady Huskies have 11 regular season games remaining, then the Pac-12 tournament in early March, followed up with a certain invitation to the women's version of March Madness. Plum has already taken over career point honors in Pac-12 women's history with her 44-point performance against Boise State last month. I
Now that Plum has surpassed the 3,000 point mark, the question becomes if she can catapult herself to the top of that list. If she maintains her current torrid pace, Kelsey will bypass all eleven, ultimately supplanting Southwest Missouri State's Jackie Stiles as the all-time leading scorer in women's college basketball. She will even join the ranks of some of the greatest female athletes of all time.
If Plum stays close to her 30-point per game average, this ultimate honor is easily within reach. In all likelihood the Husky women will not be a one and done phenomenon in either the Pac-12 tourney, or the women's championship bracket, so 3,500 total points is a realistic possibility.
If Plum can continue to post her seasonal average of 31.2ppg each time she laces up her sneakers, she'll not only become the all-time most decorated scorer in NCAA women's basketball history, but she'll establish a new standard for most points per game in a single season; bumping Stiles from that honor as well.
Dropping seven more points per night than her closest competitor, Old Dominion's Jennie Simms, Plum has bucketed over 100 more total points than any other woman in the nation. If Kelsey Plum can continue her reign of scoring dominance for the remainder of the 2017 season, she may well earn the crown as the most prolific scorer in the history of NCAA women's hoops.