JuJu Watkins, the USC women’s basketball team star, will miss the rest of the NCAA Tournament after tearing her ACL during Monday night’s Trojans’ second-round matchup with Mississippi State, according to an ESPN report.
In a statement, USC revealed that Watkins had suffered a season-ending injury, which would be repaired surgically.
JuJu Watkins sustained a season-ending injury in the NCAA Second Round on Monday night. She will undergo surgery and then begin rehabilitation shortly thereafter.
— USC Women’s Basketball (@USCWBB) March 25, 2025
In Monday night’s women’s NCAA Tournament matchup against top-seeded Southern California, Watkins was helped off the court during the first quarter.
With 4:43 left, Watkins was driving to the basket when she was slammed between two Bulldogs defenders. With an expression of pain on her face, she grasped her right knee.
JuJu Watkins was carried off the court and taken to the locker room after suffering an injury on this play. pic.twitter.com/zFgm8PkVnu
— ESPN (@espn) March 25, 2025
As coach Lindsay Gottlieb and two other USC staff members attended to 6-foot-2 sophomore Watkins, one of the biggest stars in the women’s game with an average of 24.6 points, the Galen Center audience fell silent. The game ended in a media timeout with the Trojans ahead 13-2 after she was carried off the field by many others.
On its following possession, Mississippi State was booed loudly by the crowd. Athletes and other celebrities, such as WNBA player Angel Reese, have already shown their support for Watkins on social media.
