USC women’s basketball superstar JuJu Watkins has had an up-and-down start to her highly-anticipated sophomore season, but Tuesday may have been her best performance yet. With USC taking on California Baptist in Los Angeles, Watkins dropped a smooth 40 points to lead the Trojans to a 94-52 win.
Watkins’ efficiency was the most staggering part of her performance. She finished 12-for-18 from the field and an incredible 9-for-11 from 3-point range while also adding six rebounds and three blocks. Watkins’ nine 3s set a new single-game school record.
After Watkins finished up her masterclass, fans on social media were going crazy praising the USC superstar.
“Juju Watkins having 40 points and shooting 9/11 from 3 is CRAZY! 🤯,” one fan posted on X, formerly Twitter. Another added, “I think Juju Watkins will go down as the greatest women’s basketball player of all time.”
This is now two games in a row that Watkins has exploded in the scoring column after she scored 34 points in USC’s win over Saint Louis on Friday. Before that, it was a tough stretch for Watkins. She scored just 20 points and turned the ball over eight times in a win over Seton Hall and finished with 24 points on 25 field goal attempts in USC’s loss against Notre Dame in a top 10 clash on Nov. 23.
After the game, Watkins said that she has taken a step back and tried to take some pressure off of herself, according to Luca Evans of the Orange County Register.
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“Just remembering that I’m having fun out there, that’s the biggest thing,” Watkins said, per Evans. “Whenever it starts to feel like really anxious, or some stuff like that, I don’t, I never play my best. So just to come out here and have fun with the team, it definitely shows.”
USC women’s basketball opens conference play on Saturday with a road date against Oregon before heading back into the non-conference slate. It has a massive date with No. 2 UConn on Dec. 21 on the road, so the spotlight will be fully on the matchup between Watkins and Paige Bueckers.
