The No.1. seed USC Trojans earned their first win of the tournament on Saturday, defeating the No. 16 seed UNC Greensboro, 71-25.
The Trojans’ dominant performance earned them the right to play in the round of 32 on Monday night against either California or Mississippi State. However, their win on Saturday didn’t come without a scare.
USC star guard JuJu Watkins suffered an ankle injury. Watkins suffered the injury in the third quarter of the match when the Trojans were already up big. Here’s how the play went down.
Although Watkins looked to be in pain, she came back into the play and knocked down a corner three. After the game, Watkins said she will be just fine.
“I don’t know,” Watkins said. “You know it’s end of the season, body’s a little banged up. But on to the next…”
“Oh, yeah,” she said. “I’m all right. Don’t worry.”
Not only did she suffer an ankle injury, but she also suffered a hand injury. Watkins already had a taped wrist and fingers after her second-quarter fall. Nonetheless, she played through it and played spectacularly.
“Ya know, the end of the season knick-knacks, small things, maintenance things,” Watkins said on the ESPN broadcast when asked what happened to her pinky and ankle. “Regardless, nobody cares, so continue to do what I do.”
In 28 minutes of action, Watkins finished the game with 22 points, eight rebounds and three steals. Although Watkins played injured, USC head coach Lindsay Gottlieb put her superstar guard back in the game in the fourth quarter, even with the big lead.
After the game, Gottlieb explained why she put her star back on the court.
“We’re fortunate that we were able to sit all the starters down with about six and a half minutes to go,” Gottlieb said. “JuJu probably hasn’t played under 30 minutes in about a month and a half because the Big Ten season is hard. I think we earned the right to be in a game where we could rest some people.
“When it’s in the middle of regular rotations and it’s not time to sit people down yet, I trust her. I listen to her and I trust our trainers. I say, “Are you good?” When she said she’s good, I’m probably not going to shut her down when she says she’s good before it’s time to shut her down.”
The Trojans are five wins away from their third NCAA tournament championship.
Read the full article here
