This was probably the last thing we wanted to hear during March Madness! News flash: USC Trojans women’s basketball star Juju Watkins has suffered a season-ending injury. The 19-year-old tore her ACL in her right knee during her team’s second-round game against Mississippi State on Monday. The news has devastated basketball fans, with the entire sporting world coming together to send support to Watkins. It even made the beautiful game as Alex Morgan is the latest to do so.

It was just five minutes into USC’s game against Mississippi State when Watkins suddenly collapsed on the court. She was clutching her knee with a lot of pain and had to be helped off the court. A hush fell over the Galen Center as the crowd grasped the possible severity of her injury. Despite her absence, Kiki Iriafen stepped up, delivering a season-best performance with 36 points on 16-of-22 shooting.

Though the win propelled the Trojans into the Sweet Sixteen, advancing without their star guard turned the victory into a bittersweet moment. The unfortunate incident saw Morgan being one of the many athletes to send her support to the teenage superstar. An Instagram post was shared by Togethxr—the media and commerce company Morgan launched years ago with Sue Bird, Simone Manuel, and Chloe Kim.

The first picture featured prayers of all revered stars across various sports. Meanwhile, the second one was a statement from USC stating Juju’s absence from the second-round game. The post also had a caption saying, “Everyone’s sending love to @jujubballin ❤️‍🩹.” Sharing this post on her Instagram story, Morgan added ‘🙏🙏’ to send her best wishes for a speedy recovery to Watkins.

Notably, it was ESPN’s Shams Charania who reported that Watkins had suffered an ACL tear. Later, USC stated that the injury was indeed season-ending and that she would undergo surgery, followed by patient rehabilitation. USC coach

Lindsay Gottlieb reflected on how the team coped with Watkins’ absence. “I’d be lying if I told you that I wasn’t rattled seeing JuJu on the floor crying,” Gottlieb said, as per ESPN. “This is a human game and so I obviously tried my best to be what I need to be for the team, but internally it’s a lot.”

Either way, it’s sad to see Juju Watkin endure such a heartbreak end to her season. Her absence surely affects USC and even their potential NCAA title race. Yet, Morgan seems to believe that the Trojans will go till the very end to lift the silverware!

Alex Morgan backs USC Trojans for March Madness

Just days before March Madness began, Togethxr introduced a bracket challenge, allowing participants to use a full tournament schedule to predict game and round winners. Following this format, Morgan’s Final Four bracket saw USC and LSU, both of which that represent the Spokane region. However, the winner was USC as Angel Reese and Co. got a snub within the semi-finals.

Meanwhile, from both Regional 2 and Regional 3 Birmingham, the former Tottenham star backed South Carolina and Ohio State respectively. Out of these two, it was South Carolina that makes it to the final. But ultimately, that’s where the SC’s dream runs ends in Morgan’s bracket as she crowned her beloved USC.

After the post went up on Instagram, Morgan reshared it to her story, adding the caption, “Who ya got?! 🙌🙌.” It was a clear display of support for her former college team from the former USWNT star. Then again, the miracle would be to see Alex’s dream come true, especially now that the Trojans lost Juju Watkins.

What are your thoughts on this? Let us know in the comments.