Women's NCAA

Tournament

USC’s JuJu Watkins sustains season-ending knee injury, will undergo surgery

LOS ANGELES — USC superstar JuJu Watkins will undergo surgery and rehabilitation after sustaining a season-ending knee injury during Monday’s second-round matchup against Mississippi State, casting a pall over the top-seeded Trojans’ hope for a deep tournament run.

“I’d be lying if I told you I wasn’t rattled seeingJuJu on the floor and crying,” USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb said Monday night. “I’m trying, obviously, my best to be what I need to be for the team, but internally it’s a lot.”

Watkins’ right knee buckled halfway through the first quarter in USC’s 96-59 win. She was running the floor in transition and was knocked into a Bulldogs player while driving to the basket. Referees whistled a foul on fifth-year forward Chandler Prater as Watkins writhed in pain and clutched her knee on the ground. Her teammates huddled in a circle around her, and Gottlieb and assistant coach Wendale Farrow came from the bench to check on Watkins before Trojans staffers carried the sophomore guard off the floor.

Watkins, a two-time All-American, ranked second nationally with 24.6 points per game and is one of college basketball’s biggest stars. The Trojans’ path to their first Final Four since 1986 became increasingly difficult without her, and they’ll be tested in the Sweet 16 against No. 5-seeded Kansas State.

The severity of her injury was immediately apparent. Watkins didn’t put weight on either leg, and the staffers took her to the end of the court opposite the USC locker room to get off the floor as quickly as possible. Freshman Avery Howell came off the bench to take the foul shots with 4 minutes, 43 seconds to play in the first. Watkins had three points, two assists and one rebound before exiting the eventual victory over the ninth-seeded Bulldogs.

Senior forward Kiki Iriafen contributed in a major way after Watkins exited, finishing with a game-high 36 points and nine rebounds.

“Once we lost Ju, she obviously has a high usage rate, does a lot for the team, so I think everybody else knew that we had to step up and come together,” guard Talia von Oelhoffen said. “(Iriafen) took her game to another level, knowing that we lost a huge piece on both ends of the floor, so her energy definitely helped us.”

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Watkins is no stranger to falls during a game. She suffered one in the first-round contest against UNC Greensboro and asked to be subbed out on the ensuing defensive possession.

She eventually returned to the game and played it off afterward, saying, “It’s the end of the season, body’s a little banged up, but onto the next. Nobody really cares, so onto the next.”

Watkins has yet to miss a game throughout her college career, playing all 34 games as a freshman and making 33 starts throughout her sophomore season.

Last week, the 6-foot-2 guard was named a unanimous first-team Associated Press All-American for the second consecutive year. This season, she became the first basketball player in Division I, WNBA and the NBA levels since 2000 to score 38 points, 11 rebounds, eight blocks and five assists in a game.

Watkins, who averages seven rebounds and 3.5 assists per game, also became the fastest Trojans player to score 1,000 career points in the program’s history earlier this season.

“We know that we’ve got no punks in our locker room, that we have a team that’s going to step up,” Gottlieb said Monday. “This team rallied, they rallied for (Watkins), they rallied for each other.”

The No. 1-seeded Trojans face the No. 5-seeded Wildcats in the Sweet 16 at 8 p.m. (ET) on Saturday in Spokane, Wash.

(Photo: Robert Hanashiro / USA Today via Imagn Images)