The University of Washington Huskies women’s basketball team continues to make a case to be in the playoff conversation.
After suffering only their third loss of the season against Stanford, the Huskies have gone on a winning streak. Defeating the Arizona State Sun Devils 70-57 Sunday night was the Huskies fourth straight win.
Led by Washington senior guard Kelsey Plum with 29 points and 18 rebounds from senior center Chantal Osahor, the Huskies defeated the Sun Devils (16-9, 7-7) to bring Washington’s record to 24-3, 12-2.
The AP ranks the Huskies at number 10 while the USA Coaches Poll puts them at eight. Arizona State is ranked 23 and 21 respectively.
In their RPI ranking, which takes in strength of schedule, Washington is ranked sixth. It’s not surprising considering the always tough schedule of PAC-12 teams.
The PAC-12 has four teams (Oregon St., Stanford and UCLA) ranked in the top 15 in RPI. The Southeastern Conference is the only other league with the same number of teams in the top 15.
Washington has the top scorer in the nation in Plum (30.5) who is over five points higher than Old Dominion’s Jennie Simms with 25.4. Plum has 3,241 points which is 42 points behind former Baylor Bear Brittney Griner for second on the NCAA all-time scoring list. She leads a Huskies offense that’s ranked sixth (86.3) overall.
Plum isn’t the only Husky leading the nation as Osahor has the highest rebounding average at 15.0.
With this strong pair leading the team Washington looks good for a possible return to the Final Four.
Plum was recognized for her efforts being named the Female Sports Star of the Year at the 82nd annual MTR Western Sports Star of the Year Awards held on February 8th at the Paramount Theater in Seattle.
The Huskies go on their final road trip this week to Southern California to face off with No. 15 UCLA Bruins and USC Trojans before returning home against the Colorado Buffaloes.
The home game will begin at 8 pm on Thursday, Feb. 23rd at Alaska Airlines Arena in Seattle.
