JuJu Watkins sustained a season-ending proper knee damage within the first quarter of top-seeded USC’s win towards Mississippi State within the NCAA Match on Monday night time.
The stellar sophomore will bear surgical procedure after which start rehabilitation, a staff spokesperson stated.
Watkins, one of many greatest stars in girls’s basketball, was streaking to the basket chased by two defenders when her knee bent awkwardly as she planted her proper leg, the non-contact damage inflicting her to crumple to the ground. She grabbed her knee and writhed in ache as her teammates surrounded her.
“I might be mendacity if I informed you I wasn’t rattled seeing JuJu mendacity on the ground and crying,” coach Lindsay Gottlieb stated.
The gang in Galen Heart went silent as Gottlieb and two different USC staffers attended to the 19-year-old Watkins, a 6-foot-2 sophomore who averages 24.6 factors. She was carried off by a number of folks with the Trojans main 13-2.
The Trojans received 96-59 to succeed in the Candy 16.
“My prayers and ideas are with JuJu,” MSU coach Sam Purcell stated. “Clearly, we’re rivals and also you by no means wish to see that, particularly what she means for ladies’s basketball.”
Watkins has loved good well being in her temporary school profession. She began all 34 of USC’s video games as a freshman, when she was second in scoring nationally with 27.1 factors a recreation. Her 920 factors set a nationwide file for freshman scoring.
USC reached the Elite Eight final yr, shedding to Paige Bueckers and UConn. The groups might meet once more in a regional ultimate in Spokane, Washington, this yr.
After Watkins was harm, the gang loudly booed Mississippi State each time it had the ball. The college’s cheerleaders had been booed throughout their halftime routine and the gang obtained on the staff once more because it warmed up for the second half.
“They’re gonna stand behind their house staff. They’re gonna go arduous for JuJu,” stated MSU guard Jerkaila Jordan, who scored 17 factors. “I could not do nothing however respect them.”
Watkins had three free throws, one rebound and two assists in 5 minutes.
Within the second quarter, USC guard Malia Samuels went down arduous on the baseline. She held her head in her fingers as the gang booed and Gottlieb once more got here speeding out to examine on the sophomore, who ran the offense in Watkins’ absence.
“I used to be relieved to listen to her say, ‘I am good,'” Gottlieb stated.
The Trojans appeared undaunted by the damage to their star. They rushed the ground in celebration after senior Rayah Marshall banked in a 3-pointer to beat the halftime buzzer and lengthen the result in 50-27.
“They gave us a variety of vitality, particularly when issues weren’t going our manner at first,” stated Kiki Iriafen, who scored a season-high 36 factors.
Watkins harm her left hand after the ball jammed her fingers in USC’s first-round blowout win over UNC Greensboro. She later got here up limping on her left leg and winced.
“It is the tip of the season, physique is just a little banged up,” she stated afterward. “On to the following. No one cares. I am all good.”
