A second straight Sweet 16, is not that sweet for the Trojans! Despite a blowout win over Mississippi State Bulldogs 96-59 win, a USC star player had to leave the court. JuJu Watkins suffered a knee injury with 4.43 minutes left in the first quarter. The worst news was that the 19-year-old was carried off with the help of the supporting staff. Seeing this, the who’s who of women’s basketball chimed in supporting the star guard.

“The hoops community sending love to Juju Watkins after her injury 💜.” The Just Women’s Sports on X added a photo of the California native in the arms of support staff as she was avoiding any pressure in her leg. Along with the photo were the tweets from several top women athletes, including Angel Reese. The Chi-Town Barbie added, “Prayers for Juju! 🥺🙏🏽.”

Early in the first quarter, JuJu Watkins was on a fast break. Much to the woe of her teammates and fans, she immediately went down and grabbed her right knee, wincing in pain. The Trojans were ahead 13-2 at the time of the injury. Later, USC confirmed that the injury was not only serious but a season-ending one that will require surgery. Former Gamecocks alum and current Fever star, Aliyah Boston wrote, “Prayers up🙏🏽🙏🏽.” Further reports confirmed that it was an ACL tear in the right knee that will keep JuJu Watkins out for the season.

Despite its best player going down with an injury, USC was able to cruise to a 96-59 win over Mississippi State, largely led by forward Kiki Iriafen, who scored 36 points on 16-of-22 shooting. Kiki, on the ESPN postgame broadcast said, “We didn’t want to let her down,” talking about JuJu Watkins. She further added, “We just want to keep dancing, so whatever it takes is what I wanted to do. I think it just shows our toughness.”

Other stars react to the season-ending injury of JuJu Watkins

Even in the first round, the sophomore guard hobbled as she rolled her ankle. She exited with a trainer but later returned to the bench and got back into action. Despite the injury against the win over UNC Greensboro, JuJu Watkins was confident, “It’s the end of the season, body is a little banged up,” she said afterward. “On to the next. Nobody cares. I’m all good.”

Apart from Angel Reese, another LSU star, Flau’jae Johnson kept the rivalry aside and sent prayers for the Trojans star. “I pray juju okay 🙏 hate to see it.” Sports Photographer and content creator Bri Lewerke also shared her reaction, “Absolutely sick and gutted for JuJu.” During the broadcast, Holly Rowe shared that USC’s athletic director Jennifer Cohen left the stands to go check in on Watkins, and she later left the building.

Further stated on the broadcast, “There is not an MRI machine here at the (Galen Center), so we did see JuJu Watkins being wheeled out of the building… You can only do so much with a manual ligament test.“Hooper-turned-broadcaster Ros Gold-Onwude added before the season-ending news for the sophomore guard of USC. “Praying for good news and good health for JuJu Watkins 🙏.”

Now, we know that the injury report came out negative for the USC star who has been averaging 24.6 points per game. Her contributions will be missed as she has been adding 7.0 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 2.3 steals, and 1.8 blocks per game. We will have to wait and watch how Coach Lindsay Gottlieb makes the changes until then prayers for JuJu Watkins!