JuJu Watkins, who led USC to a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, is expected to miss the rest of the tournament due to a season-ending knee injury sustained on Monday, the program announced.
Watkins was carried off the court on Monday during USC's 96-59 win over Mississippi State in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. USC advances to the Sweet 16 with the win but will have to compete without Watkins.
Watkins is widely expected to win the 2024-25 Naismith Player of the Year Award after averaging nearly 24 points per game for the 30-3 Trojans.
Her injury occurred early in Monday's contest as she played just five minutes before going down. Watkins was sprinting into the forecourt when she was bumped by a defender and fell. She was immediately tended to by trainers, who carried her to the locker room as she was unable to put any weight on her leg.
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Immediately after the game, USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb said she was unaware of the severity of Watkins' injury.
"I'm feeling a lot of emotions, obviously. But the biggest one is pride. What a performance by this group," she said. "When you throw a bunch of talented people on a team, it doesn't become a team until you work through some things. I always thought throughout the year that if we had something to work on, it would be when things didn't go right right away; sometimes we stressed out."
Gotlieb now has to rally her team to face its most challenging test of the year without arguably one of the biggest stars in women's college basketball.
"I think we felt like a tidal wave tonight," she said. "Obviously, I'm just heartbroken if there's a serious injury for JuJu. But at the same time, to see this place rally behind her, I hope she can at some point see just the significance that she has here that goes so far beyond just her talent and abilities. That's what's really generational about it, the way she's galvanized everyone and the way that her team had her back."
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