No. 1 seed USC cruised to a 71-25 win over No. 16 seed UNC Greensboro in the first round of the 2025 Women’s NCAA Tournament on Saturday afternoon. The mood inside the Galen Center was not all celebratory, however, due to concern over star guard JuJu Watkins’ health status.
Watkins suffered multiple minor injuries, including an apparent left hand issue and a rolled left ankle. The Trojans and their fans were able to breath a sigh of relief afterward, however, as Watkins declared she was “all good” for the team’s second-round game on Monday against either No. 8 California or No. 9 Mississippi State.
“I don’t know,” Watkins said during her postgame press conference when asked what happened with her hand and ankle. “It’s the end of the season, body’s a little banged up, but on to the next. Nobody really cares, so on to the next. I’m all good.”
Watkins appeared to jam her left hand and/or fingers in the first quarter and spent much of the first half grabbing at the hand and trying to shake it out. She remained in the game, however, and ended the first half with 11 points, which matched UNC Greensboro’s total as a team.
Late in the third quarter, Watkins’ day got even more painful when she stepped on a defender’s foot on a drive to the basket and her ankle folded to the floor. She hobbled over to the corner and actually made a 3-pointer before checking out of the game, but was not moving well. The training staff immediately took her back to the locker room, but after a short examination she returned to the bench.
Watkins even returned to the game at the start of the fourth quarter, much to the surprise of everyone watching. The Trojans were already up 53-16 at that point, and the game was no longer in the balance. After the win, USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb explained why she put her star back on the court.
“We’re fortunate that we were able to sit all the starters down with about six and a half minutes to go,” Gottlieb said. “JuJu probably hasn’t played under 30 minutes in about a month and a half because the Big Ten season is hard. I think we earned the right to be in a game where we could rest some people.
“When it’s in the middle of regular rotations and it’s not time to sit people down yet, I trust her. I listen to her and I trust our trainers. I say, “Are you good?” When she said she’s good, I’m probably not going to shut her down when she says she’s good before it’s time to shut her down.”
In short, Watkins, who finished with 22 points, eight rebounds and three steals, said she was fine, so Gottlieb put her back in the game. Whether that was a good idea or not is certainly up for debate considering the time and score, but it appears as though everything worked out for the Trojans in the end.
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