Southern Cal star JuJu Watkins carried off the court with season-ending injury in Trojans’ win
USC Trojans guard JuJu Watkins is helped off the court after being injured on Monday.
(CNN) — University of Southern California’s star sophomore guard JuJu Watkins threw her head back in agony as she was lifted off the hardwood and carried from the court during the top-seeded Trojans’ second round game against Mississippi State in the women’s NCAA basketball tournament Monday.
The Trojans went on to win the game handily, but the loss of their centerpiece with a season-ending injury will make USC’s pursuit of a national championship a much more daunting challenge.
Watkins, a contender for national player of the year honors, was taking the ball up the court on a fast break midway through the first quarter when she collided with Bulldogs’ senior guard Chandler Prater. Watkins’ right knee buckled awkwardly and she went down hard to the ground, immediately clutching her knee.
The raucous fans at the Galen Center in Los Angeles fell quiet as team medical staff ran onto the court to attend to Watkins and her teammates surrounded their fallen star.
After attending to Watkins for more than a minute, the Trojans trainers, carefully cradling her right leg, lifted the nation’s second-leading scorer completely off the ground and carried her off the court to a mixture of groans and clapping from the USC home crowd.
Watkins left the game with 4:43 remaining in the first quarter, having scored three points in the early minutes of the contest.
USC later announced that Watkins will require surgery before she begins rehabilitation.
Continuing without their scoring and assist leader, the Trojans still rolled over the Bulldogs 96-59 to advance to the Sweet 16.
USC was boosted by a huge game from senior forward Kiki Iriafen, who scored a game-high 36 points for the Trojans and pulled down nine rebounds.
Freshman guard Avery Howell played heavy minutes in Watkins’ absence, and tallied 18 points while dishing out six assists without committing a turnover.
After the game, USC head coach Lindsay Gottlieb stressed how proud she was of her team’s performance after losing their leader.
“I’m feeling a lot of emotions obviously, but the biggest one is pride,” Gottlieb said.
“You never want anyone to go down, especially someone like JuJu who we all lean on in so many ways. But this team rallied. They rallied for her. They rallied for each other. Our fans had our back. I’m just really proud, and I think we showed what kind of team we are.”
Next up for the Trojans is a Sweet 16 showdown with the Kansas State Wildcats Saturday in Spokane, Washington.
The-CNN-Wire
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