NCAA tournament: JuJu Watkins plays through pain as USC cruises past UNCG
No. 1 seed USC made easy work of No. 16 seed UNCG in its NCAA tournament opener Saturday.
But the Trojans don't leave the game without concern.
All-America forward JuJu Watkins appeared to tweak her left hand in the first half and played through pain in USC's 71-25 win over UNCG. Then, in the third quarter, Watkins rolled her left ankle on a drive to the basket.
She regrouped after the miss to hit an open 3-pointer from the corner after a USC offensive rebound.
Juju Watkins rolls her ankle and still hits the 3 right after pic.twitter.com/MTOsy9CoBc
— Shabazz 💫 (@ShowCaseShabazz) March 22, 2025
But she limped off the court toward the locker room at the next break in action. Watkins returned to the USC sideline after her brief exit from the court, her day seemingly done with USC in control with a 45-15 lead in the third quarter.
But head coach Lindsay Gottlieb sent Watkins back out for the start of the fourth quarter as the Trojans led, 53-16. Watkins went on to lead the game with 22 points alongside eight rebounds, two assists and three steals.
After the game, Watkins downplayed the injuries when asked about them by ESPN.
"End of the season knick-knacks," Watkins said. "So small things, maintenance things. Regardless, nobody cares. So just continue to do what I do."
The nature of either of her injuries wasn't initially clear. It was also unclear what initially happened to her left hand. She was seen throughout the first half grabbing her left hand, but played all but two minutes of the first half.
Juju Watkins has been grabbing her left hand since the first quarter pic.twitter.com/V9vjMq0Lcr
— Shabazz 💫 (@ShowCaseShabazz) March 22, 2025
Here's a closer look at her rolled left that took place when she stepped on a UNCG defender's shoe.
Juju Watkins rolled her ankle pic.twitter.com/wlNiSaOcHK
— CJ Fogler 🫡 (@cjzero) March 22, 2025
USC advances to face the winner between No. 8 seed California and No. 9 seed Mississippi State in the second round on Monday. They'll hope to do so without any limitations on Watkins.
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