JuJu Watkins speaks after UCLA loss, USC’s first of the 2023-2024 season

JuJu Watkins faced an elite UCLA defense and gained a lot of teachable moments in this part of her freshman season.

The USC Trojans women’s basketball team couldn’t survive a difficult road test against a loaded UCLA Bruin team.

However, freshman JuJu Watkins, who has become a must-watch player for college hoops fans across the country, once again dazzled. She had a game-high 27 points with 11 rebounds and 3 blocks in another WNBA-level outing. She wasn’t supremely efficient, but she still battled against an elite team which is ranked No. 2 in the country and will be favored to reach the Women’s Final Four.

After the game, Watkins got honest about losing to UCLA in a hard-fought battle (h/t Matt Moreno of Trojan Sports).

“I mean, of course it’s not great to lose the first one,” Watkins said. “It was a great game. I’m glad I got out here to compete with my team, and we fought. But, this is just a learning lesson for us to go back to Galen and figure out what we need to do to continue to improve.”

The Trojans should be able to move on and figure things out. UCLA had to play really well to beat them. This is their first loss of the season in what was a huge test as Pac-12 play begins. The Trojans didn’t ace this test, but they definitely learned a lot for the road ahead.

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