Trojans lose JuJu Watkins for the season

The USC Trojans rolled their way to a Sweet 16 appearance with a 96-59 win over Mississippi State, but they suffered a massive blow in the Round of 32, losing JuJu Watkins to a torn ACL.

“You never want anyone to go down, especially someone like JuJu that we all lean on in so many ways, but this team rallied, they rallied for her, for each other, and I think we showed what kind of team we are,” said head coach Lindsay Gottlieb.

USC would release a statement later on Watkins’s status, confirming the Trojans’ worst fears.

“JuJu Watkins sustained a season-ending injury in the NCAA Second Round on Monday night. She will undergo surgery and then begin rehabilitation shortly thereafter.”

Scoring leaders from today's win over MSU:

Kiki Iriafen: 36 pts, 9 reb, 2 blk
Avery Howell: 18 pts, 6 ast
Kayleigh Heckel: 13 pts, 6 ast pic.twitter.com/FwlGjZ2sc8

— USC Women's Basketball (@USCWBB) March 25, 2025

Watkins went down at the 4:43 mark in the first quarter after taking a blow to the knee and did not return to the game. From then on, the Trojans showed their depth and how talented a team they are, even without their superstar player.

Avery Howell hit a three as time expired to end the first quarter 28-8. Rayah Marshall banked in a three at the buzzer to send Mississippi State to the locker room at halftime down 23, and Kayleigh Heckel scored in the final second of the third to make the score 75-42 heading into the final period. That is exactly what it will take without Watkins; everyone has to contribute.

Marshall and Kiki Iriafen both got separate standing ovations as they checked out of the game. Iriafen scored 36 points on 16-22 shooting from the field in the absence of their leading scorer. If she can take over games like that once they get to Spokane, USC will be in decent shape.

“I think today was just a team effort. The ball was electric; we were moving the ball, and that is what made this win so grand. This team is just trying to do whatever we can to keep it going, and I think we are very unselfish, and you could see that today,” said Iriafen.

Watkins is a tough player who fights through injuries. Her play style and usage is bound to take its toll on her body. In the Trojans’ Round of 64 win, Watkins hurt her wrist and what might have been the same knee that just put her out, but she played through it.

31 POINTS IN THREE QUARTERS FOR KIKI! pic.twitter.com/bKzfLQFxTG

— USC Women's Basketball (@USCWBB) March 25, 2025

The Trojans are stacked even without Watkins and can still make a deep run in the tournament. Instead of being specialists and acting as complementary pieces, every player must be a star in their role. It will take a complete team effort for USC to make the Final Four and get past teams like UConn in the Spokane Region, but tonight, they proved they are capable of just that.

“It is hard when you have such a key player not with you, but at the end of the day, you have to win the game. Respectfully, nobody cares on this stage that we lost her,” said Iriafen.

Heckel, a freshman, will have to take on a much bigger role in Watkins’s absence, and coach Gottlieb may want to explore the idea of inserting her into the starting lineup. She is now arguably the best playmaker and defensive disruptor on the team, two areas of the game Watkins excels at.

“It is hard to be a freshman point guard on a team with championship aspirations, but I want her to be her as much as possible. We know how talented she is; essentially, the initial defender doesn’t exist; she can get by everybody,” said Gottlieb.

FEELIN' SWEET ? pic.twitter.com/UMMwK1nZpa

— USC Women's Basketball (@USCWBB) March 25, 2025

“I am encouraging her to be as aggressive as possible, she is an incredible finisher, but also that next level of getting by her man and setting us up. Her growth has been tremendous, and on the other side of the ball, she has grown a ton defensively and made a bunch of things happen for us,” Gottlieb continued.

Heckel finished the game with 13 points, six assists, and two steals in under 20 minutes of action.

The Trojans will now face the Kansas State Wildcats next Saturday for a chance to get to the Elite Eight. The road to an NCAA Tournament title just got much tougher without one of the faces of women’s hoops, but USC still has enough to compensate for the loss.

Feature Image: LOS ANGELES, CA – MARCH 24: USC Trojans guard JuJu Watkins (12) celebrates during the Mississippi State Bulldogs game versus the USC Trojans in the second round of the NCAA Division I Women’s Championship on March 24, 2025, at the Galen Center in Los Angeles, CA. (Photo by Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire)