JuJu Watkins is used to feeling the load of the world on her shoulders. She’d been raised on the basketball courtroom in that form of stress cooker, shouldering no matter burden was requested of her otherworldly expertise. When the second requires it, Watkins doesn’t hesitate in seizing the second.
These moments got here one after one other in thrilling succession Thursday, asking increasingly more of Watkins, who simply saved answering. She carried USC by way of a capturing stoop, not solely pacing the Trojans offense with a surprising 38 factors however energizing their protection, too, swatting one shot after one other, eight in whole.
However when these moments lastly reached a crescendo within the last minutes of one of the crucial consequential ladies’s basketball matchups this season, Watkins wasn’t alone in lifting USC to a 71-60 victory that did what nobody else might — defeat top-ranked UCLA.
It was the primary time USC upset a No. 1 crew since its 1983 nationwide title win over Louisiana Tech, and the primary time the Trojans beat a No. 1 crew at residence. That it got here towards rival UCLA solely made it sweeter.
Watkins would pour in 38 factors in an unforgettable efficiency, carrying the Trojans a lot of the means. However in these last minutes, her teammates helped end the job.
First it was Avery Howell, pulling down her solely bucket of the sport from three-point vary to grab the lead. Then it was Clarice Akunwafo, swatting a cross that pressured a important turnover with beneath 4 minutes left.
When Watkins blocked UCLA star Lauren Betts with lower than three minutes remaining, she took off for the opposite finish, prepared to complete on the basket. As an alternative, she handed to Kiki Iriafen, who made a straightforward lay-in to place the sport away. For Iriafen, it was solely her third bucket of the night time.
USC’s protection was no slouch, both, down the stretch, with UCLA hitting simply two of its final 19 pictures.
Betts did all she might to will the Bruins to victory. USC swarmed the paint from the begin to cease her, swallowing up any entry cross that got here close to her. It labored for some time, as she took simply 4 pictures within the first half.
USC’s Kiki Iriafen grabs a unfastened ball in entrance of UCLA’s Gabriela Jaquez within the first quarter Thursday.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Instances)
UCLA saved feeding its 6-foot-7 stalwart, and Betts appeared to search out her footing within the paint. However by the fourth quarter, USC ratched up its protection once more.
Watkins made her presence identified early, decided to shake off what had been the worst stoop of her Trojan tenure. After lacking her first 11 pictures towards Ohio State on Saturday, Watkins pulled up confidently from the highest of the arc early and sank a 3. She scored the subsequent time down, too. Then, with out hesitation, she pulled up deep once more on a 3rd straight possession, sinking one other three-pointer.
Any semblance of a capturing stoop had seemingly washed away within the wet L.A. night time, as Watkins hit 5 extra from deep within the first half. She hit a silky easy turnaround jumper. She drove coast-to-coast on a lay-in.
Nothing or nobody appeared able to stopping Watkins, who appeared, for a stretch to be working on a distinct airplane, impervious to regardless of the Bruins threw at her. She scored 25 within the first half, carrying the scoring as USC fired out to a big early lead.
However by the second quarter, Watkins had cooled off from her scorching begin. UCLA rapidly climbed again and caught fireplace itself, mounting its personal lead that the Bruins would carry into the fourth quarter.
It wouldn’t final, as Watkins bought a bit of assist from her associates in securing one of many greatest wins in current reminiscence at USC.
