USC freshman scores 51 points to lead upset of Stanford women
JuJu Watkins pulled up from long range and hit contested 3-pointers. She powered to the rim against Stanford's two-star posts to draw fouls and get to the line.
She outscored Stanford all by herself in the third quarter.
The sensational freshman scored a Southern California-record 51 points — the most in major NCAA women's basketball this season — and the 15th-ranked Trojans upset No. 4 Stanford 67-58 on Friday night.
Watkins hit a key 3 with 3:10 remaining and four free throws over the final 18 seconds to break the previous USC scoring mark of 50 set by Cherie Nelson against California on March 11, 1989. Cheryl Miller held the freshman record of 39 points.
Not that Watkins is ready to consider herself among the program's greats just yet.
“It's crazy. I don't really think about it too much,” she said. “I have a long way to go `til I will consider myself in that category with Cheryl and Lisa (Leslie) and the greats. I'm just honored, honestly, blessed to be in this environment, space, and time in women's basketball.
“I'm just soaking it all in.” Watkins hit six 3-pointers and converted 17 of 19 free throws to help the Trojans (15-4, 5-4) send the Cardinal (19-3, 8-2) to their first home loss of the season.
The basketball-crazed home crowd even appreciated the performance, by an opponent no less.
“Every time I scored all I heard was `oooh,'” Watkins said. “It wasn't even like a boo. I was like, `All right.' It was crazy.”
Recruited by Stanford, Watkins had 25 by halftime and finished 14 for 26 from the floor. Her 3 with 5:52 left in the third put her at 37 and USC ahead 43-35 — giving her more points than Stanford had in total. Watkins came in averaging 25.8 points and Hall of Fame Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer turned to freshman Courtney Ogden to try stopping her.
In the handshake line after the final buzzer, VanDerveer told USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb, “She was really good.”
“I said, `She sure was,'” Gottlieb said.
Watkins hardly slept this week after a loss to Washington, spending hours in the gym getting up shots. A security guard even called Gottlieb to make sure it was OK.
Stanford star Cameron Brink had 19 points, 15 rebounds, and eight blocked shots — swatting six shots in the first half. Her layup with 5:36 left pulled Stanford within six and she converted two free throws at 4:02 that made it 54-50 before Watkins took over once more.
Kiki Iriafen contributed 16 points and nine rebounds for the Cardinal, who lost for the first time in five games since a 71-59 defeat at Colorado on Jan. 14.
McKenzie Forbes added 12 points for USC, which had lost three of four since beating UCLA on Jan. 14.
USC missed six straight shots and had a scoring drought of 4:31 before Watkins' late 3 that was reviewed and stood. The Trojans went on a 6-0 run late in the third as Stanford looked rushed and out of sorts during a 1-for-8 shooting stretch.
“I think they were out of sorts a little bit because of what JuJu was doing,” Gottlieb said.
Both teams endured long scoring droughts.
USC went 5:44 between baskets in the first quarter — missing nine straight shots during a 1-for-11 stretch before Watkins connected on a jumper with 2:14 left in the opening period.
Watkins got on a roll from there, scoring 25 of her team's first 31 points and shooting 9 for 13 after starting 1 for 5.
“She's an incredibly talented player. If she's not shooting well then it might be a different story. But she got going,” VanDerveer said. “We tried a lot of different people guarding her, we tried some different things against her. We fouled her too much, too, she had 19 free throws.
“We didn't do the job we needed to do.”
NO. 7 UCLA 78, CAL 58 >> Charisma Osborne had 32 points and No. 7 UCLA beat California 78-58 on Friday night for its 12th straight victory over the Bears.
UCLA (17-3, 6-3 Pac-12) rebounded after losing to unranked Washington State, with a marquee matchup at No. 4 Stanford looming today. The Bruins started the season 14-0, but had lost three of their last five.
Men's college basketball
CAL 81, ARIZONA STATE 66 >> Fardaws Aimaq scored 20 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, Jaylon Tyson also recorded a double-double and the Golden Bears put together a dominating road win over Arizona State, beating the Sun Devils 8166 on Saturday.
Tyson scored 17 points and had 10 rebounds – his sixth double-double of the season – Jalen Cone scored 19 on 6-for-9 shooting and Keonte Kennedy added 12 points and tied a career high with four steals for Cal (913, 5-6 Pac-12). Cal shot 50% (27 of 54) from the floor and from 3-point range (11 of 22) while dishing out 18 assists.
Aimaq recorded his Pac12-leading 14th double-double of the season with his 20-point, 14-rebound effort. The big man was 8-of12 shooting from the floor and chipped in five assists.
It was Cal's first win at ASU since 2017 when the Golden Bears beat Arizona State by a near-identical score – 81-65 – on New Year's Day that year. Cal now has won three of four.
“Our guys were motivated,” Cal head coach Mark Madsen said. “We didn't start with energy (at Arizona) and, so, the guys were committed to each other to come out with huge energy.”
SAN DIEGO 70, SANTA CLARA 59 >>
Deuce Turner led all scorers with 23 points, Steven Jamerson contributed a 10-point, 10-rebound double-double, and the San Diego Toreros knocked off Santa Clara, handing the Broncos their third conference loss — the first to an opponent besides Saint Mary's.
Following Wednesday's loss to the Gaels, Santa Clara (15-9, 6-3) has lost consecutive games for the second time this season, falling to fourth place in the West Coast Conference standings. The Broncos were led by Johnny O'Neil, who scored 21 points and collected 12 rebounds in the loss.