USC women's basketball's Lindsay Gottlieb 'not surprised' beating Kansas State without JuJu Watkins

03/30/2025 12:42 AM

Although USC women’s basketball is without JuJu Watkins, it didn’t phase head coach Lindsay Gottlieb. She knew that her team was a No. 1 seed for a reason.

While Watkins is a major proponent of that, her team is still one of the best in the country. Funny enough, they won the Big Ten regular season tournament, before losing to UCLA in the conference championship.

Either way, Gottlieb kept it simple about the Sweet 16 win against Kansas State.

“Really pleased but not surprised,” Gottlieb said via Grace Reynor of The Athletic on X (formerly Twitter). “I knew we'd come out and compete.

“There's so much love for JuJu in our program. … But I don't think we’ve ever had this feeling of, 'Oh no now all of our goals are gone.' And neither has JuJu.'”

The team is rallied around one thing: Winning a national championship. Those don’t come easy, but the Trojans were close to it. After all, they competed with UConn in the 2024 Elite Eight.

Watkins proved that she was on the rise, and gave the Huskies everything she could. However, UConn pulled away. 2025 though is different.

USC women’s basketball landed Kiki Iriafen in the transfer portal. She came in from Stanford and has been the ideal complement to Watkins.

Lindsay Gottlieb says USC women’s basketball is fine without JuJu Watkins

Once again, the Trojans are the No. 1 seed for a reason. They are one of the most well-coached teams in the country. While they were a quality offense, they shined defensively.

Watkins has improved drastically compared to her freshman season. However, Iriafen has been an anchor on that side. She’s been an enforcer in the paint but can get out and defend the perimeter.

Furthermore, USC women’s basketball completed a feat not seen since 1994 without Watkins. The team is heading to their second consecutive Elite Eight.

The last time that took place? When Trojans legend Cheryl Miller was on the team. Much like the 2025 Trojans team, both are elite, and having budding superstars.

At the end of the day, the job isn’t finished for Gottlieb and her squad. They are set for a rematch of last season’s Elite Eight. Still, USC will be without Watkins, which makes a massive different.

Despite that, it doesn’t seem to phase Gottlieb in the slightest. She’s likely eager and excited for a game like this. Whoever wins this game could have a serious shot of hoisting the national title.

Both UConn and USC women’s basketball square off on Monday, and will be without Watkins for a second straight game.

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