ASU women fall to No. 10 Washington
SEATTLE -- For a rare moment in her college career, Kelsey Plum failed to find a rhythm shooting from behind the 3-point line.
So the national scoring leader found a different way for Washington stay near the top in the Pac-12 Conference race.
Plum had 29 points without hitting a 3-pointer, Chantel Osahor added 18 points and 18 rebounds, and No. 10 Washington beat No. 23 Arizona State 70-57 on Sunday night.
"I thought I had some decent looks. Usually you don't get that decent of a look from the 3-point line against Arizona State," Plum said. "I don't know if I was surprised or I rushed it a bit. I don't remember the last time I didn't hit a 3 in a game."
Plum got Washington (24-3, 12-2 Pac-12) going with a big first quarter then let Osahor command the interior as the Huskies won their fourth straight since losing at home to Stanford.
For a change, Washington did most of its offensive scoring inside the 3-point line. The Huskies were just 3 of 14 on 3s, a surprising off night for the national leaders in made 3-pointers. Plum missed all seven of her attempts from behind the arc, the first time this season she failed to make a 3.
"You're not going to make many 3s against Arizona State. They take that part away from you so the fact that we can still find a way to make the defense wrong and get (46) points in the paint that means we have a couple of identities," Washington coach Mike Neighbors said. "We certainly make a lot of 3s, but that's not part of our necessary identity."
Plum got started early against the Sun Devils, scoring 12 of Washington's first 16 points, but it was a run at the end of the first half that gave the Huskies a 13-point cushion at the break that Arizona State could never overcome.
And it was largely the work of Osahor on the interior after Arizona State center Quinn Dornstauder picked up her third foul with 6:17 left in the second quarter. Osahor scored 10 of her 12 first-half points in the second quarter, including six during a 12-3 run to close the first half. She had her 22nd double-double of the season by halftime grabbing 11 rebounds.
Arizona State never got closer than nine in the second half. Sophie Brunner led Arizona State (16-9, 7-7) with 16 points as the Sun Devils fell to 3-7 this season against ranked opponents. Reili Richardson added 13.
"We were really inconsistent defensively with how we wanted to defend them and we let Plum score with way too many good looks," Arizona State coach Charli Turner Thorne said.
RECORD WATCH
Plum now has 3,241 career points, leaving her 42 points behind Brittney Griner for No. 2 on the all-time NCAA scoring list and 152 points from tying Jackie Stiles for the top spot with four regular season games remaining.
BIG PICTURE
Arizona State: Dornstauder was never able to get into the flow of the game. The Sun Devils second-leading scorer at 10.3 points per game was limited to just 14 minutes by the foul trouble. She picked up her fourth foul with 4:03 left in the third quarter and finished with eight points.
Washington: The Huskies wrapped up a bye in the Pac-12 tournament with the victory. The top four seeds receive byes to quarterfinals. Washington is now five games ahead of both Arizona State and Oregon with four conference games remaining.
COMING BACK
Turner Thorne said the Sun Devils hope to get senior guard Kelsey Moos back in the next week. Moos suffered a foot injury on Jan. 1 against California and has missed 12 games.
UP NEXT
Arizona State: The Sun Devils are at rival Arizona on Friday.