Plum Finds Her Way as Aces Move One Win From W.N.B.A. Title

The dreadful stretch was unlike any Plum has had in her career. Her scoring ability in college was what had made her the No. 1 overall pick in the 2017 W.N.B.A. draft. She was one of the best players in women’s college basketball history at the University of Washington, where she set an N.C.A.A. record with 3,527 career points and averaged 31.7 points a game as a senior.

“I don’t remember a period where I ever felt like she was in a slump,” Mike Neighbors, her coach at Washington, said before Tuesday’s game. “She’s like no other human being I’ve ever been around. She developed this ability to focus more than anybody I’ve ever seen.”

On Tuesday night, that focus took the form of Plum’s attacking the basket fearlessly. Her 3-point shooting woes continued (she shot 1 of 6 on 3s), but she masked that by attacking the Sun’s physical and tall frontcourt for layup after layup, repeatedly contorting her 5-foot-8 body around bigger defenders like Jonquel Jones (6-foot-6), DeWanna Bonner (6-foot-4), Brionna Jones (6-foot-3), and Alyssa Thomas (6-foot-2).

Plum’s most impressive finish came with just over four minutes left in the third quarter, when she finished a drive around the outstretched arms of Bonner while drawing a foul.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/14/sports/basketball/aces-sun-wnba-finals.html