With six minutes and one second left on the clock in the second quarter of Monday night’s Elite Eight matchup with UConn, USC’s JuJu Watkins held the ball at the top of the three-point line with Paige Bueckers guarding.
Watkins stepped to the right and stepped back before draining a deep three-pointer. The three was instrumental in keeping the Trojans in Monday’s game, and it was also Watkins’ 899th point of the season.
While USC went on to lose to the Huskies in the Elite Eight at the Moda Center, the Trojans’ star freshman left with the NCAA women’s basketball freshman scoring record that has stood since before Geno Auriemma started coaching at UConn.
“It’s definitely an honor. ... Not really the terms I would like to end on, on my season, I mean, I’m just blessed,” Watkins said after the Elite Eight loss to the Huskies. “This program has offered me a lot. I’m so grateful for it. It’s just been a great season.”
The record is great. Just the moments that I’ve got to spend with this team have meant everything to me. I’m just excited for next year, yeah.
The NCAA’s women’s basketball women’s scoring record had previously been held by Tina Hutchinson, who scored 898 points her freshman season at San Diego State in 1983. Hutchinson averaged 29.9 points per game that year.
In Watkins’ freshman campaign, she averaged 27 points per game to lead the Trojans, along with 7.2 rebounds per game, 3.3 assists, 2.3 steals and a 40.2% shooting percentage. She was second nationally in scoring behind Caitlin Clark (31.7) who led the Hawkeyes to an Elite Eight win over LSU earlier on Monday afternoon. Watkins had some dizzying highs, with a 42-point night against Colorado and a 51-point game against Stanford on Feb. 2.
Watkins’ final tally for the season is 920 points.
“I told her on the way here, These people got to deal with you for three more years. If I was a coach, would be my worst nightmare,” said teammate McKenzie Forbes.
In her first trip to March Madness, Watkins scored 23 points in USC’s first round game against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 28 points against Kansas in the second round, 30 points against Baylor in the Sweet 16 and 29 (with 10 rebounds) against UConn in the Elite Eight.
“Just really excited to see her grow. As incredible as she is, it’s scary because she still can get so much better. But I think more than how good she is ... it’s really rare that you get a superstar that can come in. She’s selfless. She’s mature. She’s a winner. She only cares about winning. She’s 18 years old,” Forbes said, with an expletive. “Seriously, I would want to be her teammate every day of the week. I truly mean that. I think this program couldn’t be in better hands than with her.”
The March Madness trip was the first time USC made it to the Elite Eight since 1994 and the first time the Trojans were a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament since 1986.
“The record is great,” Watkins added. “Just the moments that I’ve got to spend with this team have meant everything to me. I’m just excited for next year.”
-- Nik Streng, nstreng@oregonian.com, @NikStreng