The women’s college basketball world is reacting to JuJu Watkins’ absolutely spectacular display against No. 4 Stanford on Friday night. Watkins dropped 51 points on the road against the Pac-12 leader and a team which is contending for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. USC’s ability to beat Stanford on the road is hugely impressive. Watkins’ great performance translated into a great result.
It is worth noting — amid the JuJu Watkins explosion and the massive national reaction it generated — to point out just how big a win this was for USC.
The Trojans probably won’t be able to climb all the way to first place in the Pac-12. There are too many good teams ahead of them in the standings. However, the Trojans have a very clear and obvious goal for the regular season. It is simple enough to grasp: Get a top-four seed in the Women’s NCAA Tournament. A top-four seed means home games at the Galen Center in the first and second rounds on the opening weekend of the event. That’s huge. USC has never previously hosted NCAA Tournament games at the Galen Center.
USC’s three losses in four games knocked the Trojans from a projected No. 2 seed to a No. 4 seed. The Trojans were on the cusp of falling out of that top-four spot. A road win at Stanford — a possible No. 1 seed — should lift USC back to a No. 3 seed. The win puts the Trojans back on course to reach their main regular-season goal.
The main key for USC is to make sure to beat all the teams in the lower half of the Pac-12, starting with Sunday in Berkeley against Cal. If USC cleans up against the lower half of the Pac-12, and its only future losses are against the elite teams in the conference, it will be hard for the Trojans to fall out of that top-four seeding position.
This win over Stanford could make the difference between getting that top-four seed and falling short of it. The next task: Build on the win instead of regressing and stepping off the gas pedal.
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