LOS ANGELES — Sharpshooter Kelsey Plum, who guided the Washington Huskies to the Sweet 16, won the John R. Wooden Award on Friday.
A 5-foot-8 senior guard, Plum completed one of the most prolific offensive campaigns in NCAA history, as she broke former Missouri State star Jackie Stiles’ scoring records — NCAA career and single-season. Plum, who led the nation in scoring average (31.7 points per game), finished with 3,527 career points and 1,109 points during 2016-17. She also shattered the NCAA’s 33-year-old career free throw record with 912 points from the charity stripe.
Plum was recognized during college basketball’s nationally televised awards show. Other finalists for the Wooden Award were A’ja Wilson of national champion South Carolina, Connecticut’s Katie Lou Samuelson and Napheesa Collier, and Ohio State’s Kelsey Mitchell.
Plum also won the Naismith and Wade trophies, was a unanimous Associated Press All-American, The Associated Press Player of the Year, the Ann Meyers Drysdale national player of the year, the Dawn Staley Award winner, Pac-12 Player of the Year and espnW Player of the Year.
Whether pulling up from 3-point range or driving to the basket, Plum went on scoring runs at a furious pace. Shooting 53 percent from the field, she dropped 40 or more points on five occasions, including a Pac-12 record 57 points in an 84-77 regular-season victory over Utah to shatter Stiles’ NCAA career record.
Plum scored 38 points in a 108-82 NCAA second-round victory over Oklahoma to eclipse Stiles’ NCAA single-season mark. The Poway, California, native also led the Huskies in assists (168) and steals (52) and recorded a 1.9 assist-to-turnover ratio.
Read More (via ESPN)
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