Tag: UConn Athletics

Honors roll in for Juju Watkins after USC takes down UConn

JuJu Watkins played like a superstar against UConn and was richly rewarded for her performance.

On Saturday night, the USC women’s basketball team earned a statement victory over UConn on the road. Following the performance, accolades and recognition have begun to come in for the Trojans. At the center of it all has been star sophomore guard Juju Watkins.

On Monday, Watkins was named the Big Ten Player of the Week. On Tuesday, she followed that up by earning national player of the week honors from both the AP and USBWA.

It was Watkins’ second time this season earning both honors. It is obviously still very early with the vast majority of conference play yet to be played, but at this point, she is widely considered the favorite to win Big Ten player of the year.

With the victory over UConn, the Trojans also rose to No. 4 in the AP Poll. The three teams ahead of USC are No. 1 UCLA, No. 2 South Carolina, and No. 3 Notre Dame.

With their nonconference slate complete, the Women of Troy will now gear up for the heart of their Big Ten schedule. Up next is a matchup with No. 23 Michigan at Galen Center on Sunday night.

USC women’s basketball’s victory over UConn proves last season wasn’t a one-off

USC showed real staying power in women’s college basketball by beating UConn. The Trojans are here to stay. They’re not going anywhere.

On Saturday night, USC women’s basketball took down UConn 72-70 in a highly-anticipated, top-10 showdown.

It was a statement victory for Lindsay Gottlieb and the Trojans. Coming off of last season’s Slite Eight run, USC entered 2024-2025 with the program’s highest expectations in decades. However, in their only other game of the season against a top 15 opponent, the Women of Troy were upset at home by Notre Dame.

Heading into Saturday’s matchup, the 2024-2025 USC team had yet to prove that they could beat an elite opponent. Against UConn, the Trojans did just that, putting together a gutsy performance to grind out a victory on the road in a hostile environment.

In addition to earning a major resume boost, USC made a statement by beating UConn. They proved that last season’s run to the Elite Eight was not a one-off.

Last season was obviously an incredible one for the USC women’s basketball program. While the expectation was that the Women of Troy would build off of that success, you can never be certain of such in today’s landscape of college sports. While USC returned superstar Juju Watkins and added several key players in the transfer portal, the Trojans did lose three of five starters from last year’s team.

Saturday night, however, but to bed the notion that the Women of Troy would be a one-hit wonder. By taking down the sport’s premier program of the past two decades, USC proved that this program under Gottlieb is a force to be reckoned with. And if the current trend is any indication, that will be the case for years to come.