'Generational talent' JuJu Watkins sustains season-ending knee injury during March Madness game

Beth Harris · The Associated Press

· Posted: Mar 25, 2025 9:48 AM EDT | Last Updated: 9 minutes ago

If Southern California wants to triumph its archetypal nationalist title successful 41 years, the Trojans volition person to find a mode to get it done without prima defender JuJu Watkins.

They notched their 30th triumph for the archetypal clip since 1986 by walloping ninth-seeded Mississippi State 96-59 successful the 2nd circular of the NCAA Tournament connected Monday night. But they mislaid Watkins to a season-ending close genu wounded successful the archetypal quarter.

She was streaking down the tribunal connected a accelerated interruption with 2 Bulldogs defenders adjacent erstwhile her genu bent awkwardly arsenic she planted her close foot. She instantly crumpled to the court. Watkins had to beryllium carried off, incapable to enactment immoderate value connected her leg. She volition person country and past rehabilitate, USC said, without specifying her injury.

The show of Watkins writhing successful symptom connected the court, holding her injured genu portion her teammates stood astir her and manager Lindsay Gottlieb rushed to the 19-year-old's broadside shocked the assemblage of 7,808 astatine Galen Center.

"JuJu is simply a generational talent," Mississippi State defender Jerkaila Jordan said. "She's changed the crippled successful truthful galore ways astatine specified a young age. Seeing her spell down was truly tough. I said my prayers for her."

Losing Watkins conscionable 5 minutes successful connected a non-contact play turned the location fans aggravated and they booed the Bulldogs the remainder of the game. At halftime, they jeered the MSU cheerleaders' routine.

"You had to beryllium present to consciousness it," Gottlieb said. "I don't cognize if radical saw that done the TV, but it was a palpable thing."

The top-seeded Trojans, meanwhile, were each business. Buoyed by the raucous crowd, they deed buzzer-beating shots astatine the extremity of the first, 2nd and 3rd quarters and ran their pb to 46 points successful the fourth.

"I wouldn't accidental this is our defining moment," said Kiki Iriafen, who scored a season-high 36 points. "It's what we expect of ourselves. We expect to triumph successful this tourney careless if it's going our way, we person people, we don't person people. That's the modular here."

Next up is the Sweet 16 successful Spokane, Washington, wherever the Trojans (30-3) play fifth-seeded Kansas State (28-7) connected Friday.

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USC has yet to cognize what it's similar playing without 1 of the biggest stars successful assemblage basketball. Watkins started each 34 games arsenic a freshman, starring the Trojans to the Elite Eight portion boosting attendance with beardown enactment from her adjacent assemblage of Watts.

"I anticipation she tin astatine immoderate constituent spot conscionable the value that she has present that goes truthful acold beyond conscionable her endowment and abilities," Gottlieb said. "That's what's truly generational astir it, the mode she's galvanized everyone, and the mode that her squad had her backmost and besides truly is simply a team."

This twelvemonth was expected to beryllium astir winning it all.

It inactive could be, but the representation looks a batch antithetic without Watkins.

Iriafen, a Stanford postgraduate transfer, showed what she tin bash without her moving mate, shooting 16-of-22 to spell with 9 rebounds.

"Kiki is 1 of the champion players successful the country. She was electric," Bulldogs manager Sam Purcell said. "We had our halfway connected her, our defender connected her, we doubled her, we went 2-3, we went man-to-man, we trapped her. We ne'er stopped her."

USC had 5 players successful treble figures against the Bulldogs, including 3 freshmen. One of them, Kaleigh Heckel, on with sophomore Malia Samuels, ran the offence in Watkins' absence. They combined for 9 assists, 5 steals and 2 turnovers. Heckel besides scored 13 points and had six assists.

Another freshman, Avery Howell, tied her vocation precocious with 18 points and had 4 3-pointers and six assists. A 3rd freshman, Kennedy Smith, had 10 points and 5 steals.

"We person a beauteous large relation this year," Howell said. "We're prepared for astir moments due to the fact that of the clip we're fixed successful games and however hard we enactment successful practice."

The Trojans won their archetypal 2 tourney games by a combined 83 points.

"We volition marque definite that we're pouring into this team, to JuJu and keeping america unneurotic due to the fact that arsenic you saw we are susceptible of a batch of greatness," Gottlieb said. "That's what volition proceed to beryllium the connection to our team."