The Trojans, a woman down without superstar JuJu Watkins, still expected to live up to their billing as the top seed and come out with a win against No. 5 seed Kansas State. And when they did, their celebration — remarkably demure for advancing to the Elite Eight — reflected a team that still has a lot left to prove.
“This team is really focused on continuing our journey and achieving our goals even though the path looks a little different than it did just a few days ago,” coach Lindsay Gottlieb said. “We’re capable of enormity when we do it together, and that’s been the message more than anything else.”
USC knew there would be an element of surprise Saturday because opponents spend so much time scouting Watkins. But even when the Wildcats were able to focus on the other players, the load was so evenly spread that it was impossible to stop all of them.
No one player could individually replicate the production of Watkins, not even All-American Kiki Iriafen. What USC needed to do was re-create Watkins in the aggregate by leaning into their remaining players’ individual strengths, which is exactly what transpired in a 67-61 win.
That started with bringing a piece of Watkins into the arena. The Trojans wore shirts with her face on them before the game and had Watkins’ Funko Pop doll with them on the bench.
.@Jujubballin is with @USCWBB in spirit ✌️
📺 ESPN pic.twitter.com/jonFEXC4gm
— USC Trojans (@USC_Athletics) March 30, 2025
“That was huge for our team. That was just a little appreciation for JuJu and letting her know we’re thinking of her, and we love her. And we’re grateful for where we are, and a lot of why we’re here is because of her,” senior Rayah Marshall said. “And the team looked good in the shirts.”
Reppin’ 12 on the way to the arena ✌️
We love you, Ju 🫶 pic.twitter.com/hUo3htjkzN
— USC Women’s Basketball (@USCWBB) March 29, 2025
The next step was playing with Watkins’ competitive fire. Freshman Avery Howell, who entered the starting lineup for the second time this season (the first was when Marshall was unavailable during the opener of the Big Ten tournament), assumed Watkins’ roamer role on defense. Howell said Watkins has a way of appearing to be everywhere on the court defensively, and she wanted to mimic that effort, which she did to the tune of four steals and eight rebounds. Her first steal led to a transition 3-pointer for herself that punctuated a 16-9 first quarter.
Howell also filled in for some of Watkins’ shotmaking, scoring 18 points, draining four 3-pointers to nearly equal Kansas State’s total (five) on her own. Howell had a sense of the moment, with two of her triples directly following 3-point plays from the Wildcats, and the fourth coming after Kansas State cut the lead to one in the fourth quarter.
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