Sources confirmed to ESPN‘s Shams Charania that USC star JuJu Watkins will miss the remainder of the women’s NCAA tournament after suffering a torn ACL in her right knee during the Trojans’ second-round game against Mississippi State. A team spokesperson said Watkins would undergo season-ending surgery and then begin rehab.
Watkins had to be carried off the floor just five minutes into the first quarter of USC’s 96-59 win on Monday, which sent the Trojans back into the Sweet 16 for a second straight season. Watkins, 19, was driving to the basket on a fast break chased by two defenders when she was fouled, and her right knee buckled as she planted her right leg, with the non-contact injury causing her to collapse to the floor. Watkins immediately grabbed her knee and stayed down for over a minute, with her teammates surrounding her.
The crowd in Galen Center went silent as USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb and two other USC staffers attended to the six-foot-two sophomore, who was then lifted up and taken to the locker room. The team announced at halftime that Watkins was being evaluated by medical staff and would not return. Gottlieb said after the game: “I’d be lying if I told you that I wasn’t rattled seeing JuJu on the floor crying. This is a human game and so I obviously tried my best to be what I need to be for the team, but internally it’s a lot.”
MSU coach Sam Purcell said after the game: “My prayers and thoughts are with JuJu. Obviously, we’re competitors and you never want to see that, especially what she means for women’s basketball.”
Watkins has been injury-free throughout her college career, starting all 34 of USC’s games as a freshman, when she was second in scoring nationally with 27.1 points a game. She also set a national record for freshman scoring with 920 points last season.
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