Horrible news from the Women’s NCAA Tournament as USC star JuJu Watkins tore her ACL last night against Mississippi State and will have season-ending surgery and miss the remainder of the tournament.
“JuJu Watkins sustained a season-ending injury in the NCAA Second Round on Monday night,” posted USC Women’s Basketball on X. “She will undergo surgery and then begin rehabilitation shortly thereafter.”
It was a heartbreaking scene for everyone to see last night. JuJu, arguably the game’s biggest star, was driving to the basket against two defenders when her right knee buckled and she crumbled to the floor. She writhed in pain as she was carried to the locker room, and fans immediately began to fear the worse for JuJu.
Early this morning, those fears came to fruition when it was revealed that she tore her ACL and was done for the tournament.
“I’m feeling a lot of emotions, obviously,” said head coach Lindsay Gottlieb after the game before knowing the outcome of Watkins’ injury. “You never want anyone to go down, especially someone like JuJu that 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.”
USC will need to overcome the emotional loss of their star player and rally to fight through the remainder of the tournament.
JuJu was averaging 24.6 points, seven rebounds, 3.5 assists, 2.3 steals and 1.8 blocks this season, and, despite the injury, will most likely still win the Naismith Player of the Year award.
Sending our best to JuJu and we hope that she recovers soon.
