Washington's Kelsey Plum the "James Harden of Women's Hoops"?


In the world of women’s college basketball, Kelsey Plum has become a household name. The University of Washington senior guard led her Huskies to a Final Four berth last year — the first in school history — and has continued to set record after record.

But even by her lofty standards, it has been a good week. On Jan. 9, it was announced that Plum had won PAC 12 Player of the Week for the 3rd time this season, but it was two days later that the dam broke and Twitter became abuzz with Plum-mania.

First she was named Ann Meyers Drysdale National Player of the Week, then she was named to the Wooden Award Mid-Season Top-25, and then the real fun started.

There were murmurs around social media comparing Plum’s game to college players of the past, but all other comparisons were put to rest when Bleacher Report tweeted out the following video:

The tweet quickly went viral, being re-tweeted over 8,000 times, and led to the following exchange:

“We’re both left-handed, love contact and are extreme competitors,” Plum told Bleacher Report of the comparison.

“Crafty, left-handed, can shoot the three, make plays for her teammates… you don’t see that a lot, especially in women’s basketball,” Harden told WNBA.com. “I had to give her a shoutout and show her that I’m watching and I appreciate the left-hand craftiness.”

[wnba_video id=”48695″]

On Friday, Plum put the cherry on top by becoming the first player in PAC-12 history, male or female, to reach 3,000 career points, a feat that earned her Player of the Week honors for the second straight time:

3,000-Point Club, NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball

Player Team Points Last Season
Jackie Stiles SW Missouri St. 3,393 2001
Brittney Griner Baylor 3,283 2013
Patricia Hoskins Miss. Valley St. 3,122 1989
Lorri Bauman Drake 3,115 1984
Jerica Coley FIU 3,107 2014
Rachel Banham Minnesota 3,093 2016
Elena Delle Donne Delaware 3,039 2013
Maya Moore UConn 3,036 2011
Chamique Holdsclaw Tennessee 3,025 1999
Cheryl Miller USC 3,018 1986
Kelsey Plum Washington 3,007* 2017
Cindy Blodgett Maine 3,005 1998

*Stats through Jan. 16, 2017.