USC women's basketball's Kiki Iriafen drops 'tough' truth bomb on outburst after JuJu Watkins injury
03/25/2025 11:04 AM
It was a painful time for the USC women’s basketball team as JuJu Watkins was injured early into Monday’s game against Mississippi State. While the team won the game 96-59 in the second round of the NCAA tournament, the Trojans star in Watkins will miss the rest of the season with a torn ACL as teammate Kiki Iriafen spoke about the mindset of the team when it was announced she wouldn’t return.
While Watkins was seen as the featured player of the team and just a star in women’s basketball as a whole, there is no doubt people were doubting the chance of the Trojans in the tournament. However, the group led a commanding win over the Bulldogs which included an exceptional performance from Iriafen who had 36 points and nine rebounds as she said the team didn’t want to let Watkins down according to ESPN.
“We didn’t want to let her down,” Iriafen said as he shot 16 of 22 from the field. “We just want to keep dancing, so whatever it takes is what I wanted to do. I think it just shows our toughness.”
It would be easy for the team to lose confidence in themselves seeing Watkins go down early as she only played five minutes where she scored three points with two assists and a rebound. This was even admitted by Trojans head coach Lindsay Gottlieb who said she was “rattled” when she saw Watkins get injured.
“I’d be lying if I told you that I wasn’t rattled seeing JuJu on the floor crying,” Gottlieb said. “This is a human game and so I obviously tried my best to be what I need to be for the team, but internally it’s a lot.”
USC Women’s Basketball looking to win without JuJu Watkins
The injury to the USC women’s basketball player garnered attention from Angel Reese and others in the sports world on social media which showed the impact Watkins had on and off the court. Gottlieb would echo the same sentiments after the win over Mississippi State.
“You can’t tell me that the energy of the crowd and how angry they were with the other team and how much they were for our team is so much about what JuJu has given to this arena, to this program, to this city,” Gottlieb said.
In her sophomore season, Watkins averaged 23.9 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 3.4 assists per game while shooting 42.6 percent from the field and 32.5 percent from three-point range. While the absence of Watkins will hurt, Gottlieb is confident in the rest of the team who aren’t “punks” to continue to impress in the tourney.
“We know that we’ve got no punks in our locker room, that we have a team that’s going to step up,” Gottlieb said. “This team rallied, they rallied for [Watkins], they rallied for each other.”
“Obviously just heartbroken if there’s a serious injury for JuJu, but at the same time, I hope she can at some point see just the significance that she has here that goes so far beyond just her talent and abilities,” Gottlieb said. “I mean that’s really what is generational about it, the way she’s galvanized everyone.”
At any rate, USC looks for some hardware as they next face the Kansas State Wildcats on March 29 in the Sweet Sixteen.
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