JuJu has an ACL tear and had surgery. It makes it difficult, even pointless to talk about their season to date other than their last game a 67-61 win over Kansas State.
It's been clear all season that for as deep as this USC women's basketball team is, it was built around the incredible one-two combo of JuJu Watkins and Kiki Iriafen.
One of those two -- most often Watkins, the consensus first-team All-American and United States Basketball Writers Association national player of the year -- led the team in scoring in all but one game before Saturday. When she went down with a torn ACL on Monday night, it was Iriafen, the third-team All-American, who rose up with her best game of the season to lead the way.
But coach Lindsay Gottlieb has also been clear from the start with her loaded freshman class that this was their time too and they were very much a factor in the sky-high potential of this team.
Never was that truer than Saturday night.
With Watkins watching from home and Iriafen struggling through a rare off-shooting night, the freshmen led the way to send No. 1-seeded USC to a 67-61 win over No. 5-seed Kansas State and back into the Elite Eight for the second straight season.
The Trojans (31-3) now get an Elite Eight rematch with UConn (34-3) in Spokane, Washington, on Monday night.
Thanks in large part to freshmen Kennedy Smith (19 points and 3 steals), Avery Howell (18 points, 8 rebounds and 4 steals) and Kayleigh Heckel (8 points), while veteran center Rayah Marshall chipped in 10 points, 9 rebounds and 3 blocks.
"What can I say about our freshman class? They're winners above everything else," Gottlieb said. "I got a text here that said 'Kennedy Effing Smith' and I was like, 'Can I say that in the media?' ... They're incredibly tough and they are winners, and that's what I told them before the game and they earned every bit of it."
Coming off a 36-point performance last game, Iriafen hit just 3 of 13 shots to finish with 7 points and 8 rebounds.
USC trailed 30-28 at halftime and 39-34 midway through the third quarter before Howell hit a 3-pointer to kickoff a 12-0 run in which she had 5 points and Iriafen had 4 of her points in that spurt while Smith capped it with a steal and fastbreak score.
The Trojans couldn't put the Wildcats (28-8) away until the very end, though.
K-State's Ayoka Lee tied the game at 51-51 a few minutes into the fourth quarter before Marshall answered with the next four points, including an offensive rebound and second-chance score.
The teams kept trading scores, though, and Serena Sundell's layup with 3:04 remaining cut the USC lead to 60-59.
Smith got to the line for two made free throws, then stole the ball back and made one of two at the foul line to make it 63-59 with 1:36 remaining.
A Sundell jumper for K-State and misses on both sides left it 63-61 when the Wildcats fouled Howell with 32 seconds on the clock despite their coach screaming from the sidelines not to foul. Howell hit both free throws, and Lee then fouled Iriafen trying to position for a rebound that never came on the second made foul shot.
That sent Iriafen to the line, but she missed both attempts to keep it a 65-61 game. K-State would miss its final four shots, though as the Trojans could finally exhale.
"I'm really proud of our team's fight and togetherness and finding a way to win. It's not supposed to be easy, and it wasn't easy," Gottlieb said.
USC won despite shooting 38.5-percent from the field, but the Trojans turned the ball over just 9 times while forcing 16 K-State turnovers and holding the Wildcats to just 5 of 16 on 3-pointers.
The players talked to Watkins on the phone before the game and all entered the arena wearing shirts with her face on it. Watkins' absence maintained its own presence all game, of course, but it never overwhelmed or overshadowed the Trojans on the court.
"Having a sense of togetherness, that's something we emphasized even coming in in the summer. Our chemistry on and off the court has been great. Just navigating from there, I think everyone on this team has value and brings something to the table so I think everybody stepped up today," Smith said.
"I never had any doubt in this team. I think everybody still had the common goal of winning a national championship, so just coming in and playing with heart grit and fight from the beginning to the end."
Howell reiterated that point.
"We're so deep on this team and everyone plays such a valuable role that if someone's not hitting we have someone else to rely on, so I just think it falls back to the preparation, the work we've been doing all season," she said.
"We have [Watkins] in our thoughts and we're supporting her from here and we're taking her competitive nature onto the court with us every single time we step there, and we know she's back home supporting us, having a watch party, doing everything she can to give us that good JuJu, you could say."
The road only gets tougher from here, though, as USC now gets a much-anticipated rematch with UConn.
The Huskies ended USC's season last year, 80-73, in the Elite Eight, while the Trojans won a regular-season meeting back in December, 72-70. Gottlieb was vocally miffed that the NCAA selection committee put the two teams in the same corner of the bracket despite that regular-season meeting, and now it's here -- with the dynamics far different than she or anyone could have imagined with Watkins watching from home.
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Game Analysis
Last season USC began and ended with the amazing freshman JuJu Watkins. The precocious youngster led the team to a losing effort in the Elite Eight game against the Huskies. This year the Trojans had added a Robin to Watkins' Batman. And they looked like they were going to make a championship run. KiKi Iriafan transfered in from Stanford and made an immediate impact on USC. But now with the season ending injury to Watkins, USC is down to just Robin. Can they still continue that championship run without JuJu? Let's take a look at the lineup.
USC Starters
6'2" sophomore JuJu Watkins was the leading scorer on the team at 23.9 PPG. She was a real volume shooter at around 18 per game. Her shooting percentages were not good although still better than last season. She was shooting 42.3% from the field and 32.5% on threes. Watkins was third on the team in rebounding at 6.8 RPG and led the team in assists with 113 on the season. She was second on USC in blocks with 1.9 per game and led in steals with 2.3 per game. She was and is the complete package and future POY winner before her career is over. A shame she got injured but it is what it is and USC will try to find a way to compete. As you can see, there is a ton to make up for.
KiKi Iriafan, a 6'3" forward is a graduate student who transfered from Stanford. There she was the 2024 Katrina McClain Award winner as the best power forward in the nation. She is now leading the team in scoring at 18.2 PPG and leads the team in rebounding at 8.4 RPG. I was surprised to see she only has 22 blocks on the season. She had really taken a load off Watkins with her scoring but now she will be expected to do more. She had 16 point, 11 rebounds and 6 assists in the first UConn game.
Kennedy Smith, a 6'1" freshman guard will be relied on to pick up some of the missing scoring. The No. 6 recruit in the 2024 class, She missed seven games this season with a foot injury but came back in time for the first UConn matchup. They year she is now the second leading scorer at 9.6 PPG. Smith has struggled shooting this season only 42.4% from the field and 31.4% on threes. A big guard she rebounds at 4.3 per game. She had 9 points, 3 rebounds and no assists in the first UConn game.
Rayah Marshall, the 6'4" senior center is not the double double machine she was last season so far, but is close. She is averaging 7.5 PPG and 8.2 RPG. She is a terrific shot blocker averaging 2.2 BPG. You can bet she will be getting plenty of minutes in this game. Always a decent passer for a center, she is even better this season with 79 assists and only 50 turnovers. She had 6 points, 9 rebounds and 2 blocks against the Hukies in the first UConn game.
Talia Vn Oelhoffen is another transfer, this time from Oregon State. The 5'11" grad student guard is averaging 5.8 PPG and 2.5 RPG. She is right behind Watkins in assists with almost 4 per game and steals at 1.3 per game. She's had a tough time offensively. She is shooting 36.2% from the field and 27.7% on threes. In the first UConn game she had 5 points 2 assists and a steal.
Filling out the starting lineup is 6' guard Avery Howell. She averages 7.4 PPG and 3.8 RPG. She shoots 42% from the field and is the best three point shooter at 39.9%. Howell had 6 points, 1 rebound and 1 assist in the first UConn game.
USC Bench
The bench doesn't contribute much to the stats for USC. And even less with Howell now starting. They mostly give the starters a few minutes of rest. And they play less and less as the competition toughens. I would bet that Gottlieb will ride her Starters as much as possible.
USC will only go two deep off the bench and maybe three depending on score and foul issues.
The third freshman in the regular rotation is 5'9" Freshman Guard Kaleigh Heckel. Hoopgurlz No. 13 in the 2024 freshman classs she is averaging 7.5 PPG, 1.8 RPG and 1.9 APG. She had 5 points, 2 assists and 1 steal in her 13 minutes against UConn in the first game.
Clarice Akunwafo is a 6'6" senior center averaging 1.2 PPG and 2.5 RPG. She just doesn't contribute much. In their last game she played 17 minutes and was scoreless with 1 rebound and had a quick three fouls. In the first UConn game she didn't play. She will more than likely have to see some action with the limited bench.
Malia Samuels returns as a 5'6" sophomore guard. The speedy guard, in 17.1 MPG is averaging 3.8 points and 1.7 rebounds per game. She handles the ball well with 44 assists and only 271 turnovers on the season. She only played 9 minutes in their first game without JuJu. In the first UConn game coincendently she played 9 minutes. She didn't score and had 1 steal and 1 block.
I was really looking forward to seeing JuJu and Bueckers again. Sadly it was not to be. Teams lose players but not someone that dominates the ball so much. It's so hard to make that up with the remaining players in only two games. They squeaked by Kansas State 67-61 in a game they could have easily lost. Two freshmen came through. I don't see them duplicating that against the UConn defense.
Expect UConn to play with their usual pace, trying to wear out the shorthanded USC team. Pressure defense and running on every defensive rebound. UConn's depth will make a difference.
Bueckers is on a mission. I don't see any way she doesn't have a big game again. Fudd and Strong will shoot better in this game after going 2-12 on threes between them.
I just can't see USC making a game of this. Other than Iriafen, UConn has the advantage at every position. Maybe the center position is even big I like how Ice and El Alfy are playing defense and rebounding. That's all UConn needs from them.
Any way I look at it, the Huskies are too talented for USC.
I like UConn by 15+.
