Huskies’ Osahor breaks record with 30 rebounds in win over Washington State
PULLMAN, Wash. – Chantel Osahor is vocal about her desire to be the nation’s best rebounder, according to Washington coach Mike Neighbors.
“It’s what she works for, it’s how she wants to be identified,” Neighbors said. “She wants the 3-point shot to not be what people want to talk about and imitate.”
Osahor, who leads the NCAA in rebounds per game, sent that message by grabbing a Pac-12-record 30 rebounds and supplemented it with 20 points to lead No. 8 Washington past Washington State 87-44 on Sunday.
Only 11 players in NCAA history have grabbed as many boards in a game.
“I feel like I kind of just do that every game,” Osahor said. “A lot of them came to me today. I don’t know how well (they) shot from the floor, but there was a lot of rebounds to get.”
The nation’s leading scorer, Kelsey Plum, scored 29 points for Washington (19-2, 7-1 Pac-12). She passed former Minnesota standout and current member of the WNBA’s Connecticut Suns Rachel Banham for sixth place on the NCAA Division-I all-time scoring list.
Washington State (8-11, 3-5) was held to 25.4 percent shooting from the field, 19 percent from 3.
The Huskies went up 11-3 in the first quarter, and did not let Washington State back into the game.
“It’s a testament to (Osahor), I think everybody struggles against her,” Washington State coach June Daughterty said. “We took 71 shots tonight, and the majority of our boards were defensive. She’s got some of the stronger hands of anyone in the game. We gave her a lot of rebounds, too, because of not being able to score.”
Osahor corralled a board over three Cougars, and converted a second-chance bucket late in the third. The rebound was her 25th of the night, and tied the school record for rebounds in a game. She had five more, and was subbed out early in the fourth quarter.
WSU’s Krystle McKenzie beat the first-quarter buzzer with a long 3-pointer, but not much else fell for the Cougars, who trailed by 32 at half.
BIG PICTURE
Washington State: Facing a top-10 team with the nation’s leading scorer does not bode well when trying to adjust to losing its top three scorers. After losing Borislava Hristova and Louise Brown, freshman standout Chanelle Molina suffered a season-ending ACL tear on Jan. 13 against Arizona State.
Washington: The Huskies took care of the Cougars Saturday and looked the part of a team returning its star players from a Final Four run last season. They lead a conference that includes five teams ranked 18th or higher.
MOVING UP
Plum is 37 points away from fifth place on the all-time Division-I scoring list, held by Florida International’s Jerica Coley.
Plum, who has 3,070 career points, passed Banham after making the first of a pair of free throws with 3:18 left in the third quarter. But she claims to not give the records much thought.
“I’m not aware of it,” Plum said. “I’m only aware of it because (the media) brings it up every time.”
UP NEXT
Washington State: The Cougars host No. 10 Stanford on Friday and California on Sunday.
Washington: The Huskies play California Friday and have a top-10 matchup against No. 10 Stanford on Sunday, both at home.