University of Southern California’s star player, JuJu Watkins, was injured in a desperate attempt to score a basket against Mississippi State’s Chandler Prater. This occurred during Monday night’s women’s March Madness game in the second round of the NCAA tournament. It was confirmed that Watkins tore her anterior cruciate ligament, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania. The team has not yet confirmed the diagnosis.
After the collision, Watkins was visibly in pain, grabbing her right knee and shouting in agony. The offender was given a foul immediately after, as the USC coach came onto the court to check on Watkins. Along with the coach, the medical staff comforted JuJu Watkins and provided support. Watkins was carried off the field as she could not put any weight on her leg. The USC Trojans were ahead at the time, 13-2.
“I’d be lying if I told you that I wasn’t rattled seeing JuJu on the floor crying,” coach Lindsay Gottlieb admitted after the game. “This is a human game, so I obviously tried my best to be what I need to be for the team, but internally, it’s a lot.”
There were still 35 minutes left in the game, so the coach had to make the hard decision to replace JuJu Watkins with Kiki Iriafen, a new transfer from Stanford. She immediately became the offensive focus.
“Kiki, I think, is one of the best players in the country,” Mississippi State said after the game. “We had our center on her, a guard on her, we doubled her. We went 2-3, we went man-to-man, we trapped her. We never stopped her. We threw the whole kitchen sink and the house at her. But she was just electric. Elite players know when they need to rise to the occasion.”
USC was on the track to become a leading contender for the NCAA tournament, winning almost all of its games. However, JuJu Watkins was a crucial part of this domination, and without her, USC seems to be decreasing in performance. Watkins has played in every game this season, averaging about 35 minutes per game.
“She’s a key piece for us. But we don’t want to let her down, we don’t want to let all of our fans down,” said USC’s Kiki Iriafen after finishing the game on a high. “Just keeping our foot on the gas, trusting everything our coaches have for us and knowing we’re more than capable of winning this game.”
Before her injury, Watkins was expected to win many National Player of the Year awards, with a few already voted on before her injury. Many people say that Watkins will be the face of Women’s Basketball next year, especially because of the departure of UConn’s Paige Bueckers.
There are very few details about JuJu Watkins’ injury as of today, and the whole world hopes for a speedy recovery for her!
Sources:
https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaw/2025/03/24/juju-watkins-injury-updates-usc-mississippi-womens-march-madness/82645853007/
https://www.espn.com/womens-college-basketball/story/_/id/44395866/juju-watkins-torn-acl-knee-injury-usc-trojans-2025-womens-march-madness