HARTFORD, Conn. – As USC’s bench emptied on the XL Center floor, with the No. 7 Trojans having defeated the No. 4 UConn Huskies 72-70, JuJu Watkins’ hands shot into the air. Enjoying her 25-point performance that lifted USC past UConn for the first time in school history, Watkins turned to the small section of fans decked out in red and yellow in the sold-out arena and acknowledged their support.
“It was a little different knowing the history of last year and how they sent us home,” Watkins said.
The stakes were different this time. In April, in the Elite Eight, the Huskies knocked the top-seeded Trojans out of the NCAA tournament. But Saturday night’s two-point victory was still meaningful. Not only for Watkins and USC senior transfer Kiki Iriafen, but also for their coach, Lindsay Gottlieb, who has long admired the program that UConn coach Geno Auriemma built.
“This is a very important win, and it’s a very important win because of the status of UConn’s program and what Geno Auriemma has done for our sport,” Gottlieb said. “Throughout my entire high school (career), this is what basketball excellence was. This is what we saw, and it challenges all of us to want to be better, to find players who want to be better and who want to be elite. And I don’t think that’s gone away.”
Gottlieb is in her fourth season with the Trojans and she aims to build a sustainable program similar to the Huskies. A season ago, USC won its second Pac-12 Tournament title in program history and made consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances for the first time in nearly two decades. During her short tenure, she has not only reminded audiences of USC’s history of success – two national titles and three Final Four appearances in the 1980s, Hall of Fame players like Lisa Leslie, Cynthia Cooper, Cheryl Miller and Tina Thompson – but also to what it can be in the present. Watkins, last year’s national freshman of the year and a first-team All-American, is the focus of the latest chapter. Victories like Saturday’s make lofty ambitions seem more achievable.
USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb wants to emulate what Geno Auriemma built in Connecticut. (David Butler II / Imagn Images)
Gottlieb grew up just outside New York City but wasn’t recruited by Auriemma in high school. Nevertheless, when she was 15 or 16, she accompanied one of her friends to one of his camps. UConn was always the local draw, and after Saturday’s win she recalled a trip she took during her senior year at Brown University, in nearby Providence, Rhode Island, when she and her father drove to Storrs to watch UConn play Tennessee see play.
“It was sold out,” Gottlieb said, “and I was in that building and saw this atmosphere.”
Saturday was also busy. And Watkins, the USC star guard, said this may have been the largest crowd she has ever played in front of. Nearly 16,000 people packed into XL Center, almost all wearing navy blue and white.
Still, Watkins added, “Just seeing my family here, all the SC fans, meant the world.”
If anyone needed reminding, the Trojans’ win cemented their status as one of this season’s national title contenders. At 11-1, their only loss was at home against Notre Dame by 13 points. It would have been easy, Gottlieb said, for those within the program to blame each other after that November loss — and the Trojans to fall apart.
“As long as we stay together, this can make us better,” she said afterward. “And (the loss) happened in every respect.”
Entering Saturday’s win, the Trojans had the nation’s third-best defense and the No. 15 offense. They convert in transition (nearly 20 percent of their points come in transition) and from turnovers (an average of 28.7 points per game), important measurables that could serve them well in the future. Their win over the Huskies reinforced that they could come out on the road, in one of the most anticipated games of the season, and bat first. It proved that they could surrender a thirteen-point half-time lead, be down a point with just under five minutes to play and still recover.
“No one came off the treadmill,” Gottlieb said.
Of course, having a transcendent star like Watkins helps calm any nerves. Not only did she lead the game in scoring, she added six rebounds, five assists and three blocks, including one just before halftime on UConn star Paige Bueckers. Bueckers was productive in the second half, finishing with 22 points, but she also guarded Watkins as the USC star got off to a fast start in the first quarter.
“Every scouting report you put together or every film you watch, it’s very clear that one player can’t guard (Watkins),” Auriemma said. “Once she gets into a rhythm, you have to hope she misses.”
With the score within one possession with just 4:30 to play, Watkins recorded 6 of USC’s 8 points and assisted forward Rayah Marshall on the only basket she didn’t score.
“A lot of the things she does are super difficult, but she makes it look so easy,” Iriafen said. “We all know she’s a superstar, so playing with her takes the pressure off everyone else.”
Any residual pressure dissipated even further in the locker room after the match. Players doused Gottlieb with water as she entered. They jumped together to celebrate.
“To me, it’s incredibly meaningful to bring a team here now, to know that we can do it, and then to actually do it,” Gottlieb said. “Really proud of the big win.”
(Top photo of JuJu Watkins riding between Paige Bueckers, left, and Kaitlyn Chen: Joe Buglewicz / Getty Images)