Skip to main content
Thursday, November 12, 2026Nov 12
Subscribe
All Sections
Search
More

Trojans will soldier on after season-ending injury to JuJu Watkins

AP photo by Michael Conroy / Southern California coaches and players react in the bench area during the Big Ten championship game against UCLA on March 9 in Indianapolis.
AP photo by Michael Conroy / Southern California coaches and players react in the bench area during the Big Ten championship game against UCLA on March 9 in Indianapolis. AP photo by Michael Conroy / Southern California coaches and players react in the bench area during the Big Ten championship game against UCLA on March 9 in Indianapolis.

By ANNE M. PETERSON / The Associated Press 5 min read

SPOKANE, Wash. — While heartbroken at the loss of star sophomore guard JuJu Watkins, the University of Southern California is determined to move forward in the NCAA Division I women’s basketball tournament.

The Trojans (30-3), who are the No. 1 seed in Region 4, will face No. 5 seed Kansas State (28-7) on Saturday in the Sweet 16. It will be USC’s first game since Watkins suffered a season-ending knee injury during Monday night’s home win against Mississippi State in the second round.

“I think the prevailing feeling is that we can still do something together, and that’s what JuJu wants us to do,” USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb said.

While the Big Ten’s Trojans have vowed to soldier on without the two-time All-America first-team selection, it will be difficult to replace Watkins and her scoring average of 23.9 points per game.

“Obviously we just rely on her for a lot of shotmaking and playmaking,” guard Talia von Oelhoffen said. “So other people’s roles are going to expand and have higher volume. But we’re confident in our abilities.”