The college basketball world took a hit Monday night as superstar USC guard JuJu Watkins tore her ACL on a fastbreak to the basket, ending her season. Watkins was fouled on the play, but it doesn't look like the contact is what caused the torn ACL, it seemed like her knee just gave out on her, resulting in the injury.
With Watkins out for the rest of the season, head coach Lindsey Gottlieb has to have the "next man up" mentality because her team is still fighting for a National Championship. USC was able to handle Mississippi State with a 96-59 victory over the Bulldogs to send them to the Sweet 16, where they will take on 5-seed Kansas State.
Losing a player like Watkins is never easy, but one player does not make an entire team, this Trojans team is filled with stars who are ready to rally around their teammate and go get her a national championship. However, facing a team like Kansas State in the next round will be tough with their physical defense and elite three-point shooting.
With Watkins out, USC will have to change their game plan just a bit, but these three players have to step up if the Trojans still want to have a chance at winning the National Championship.
1. Kiki Iriafen
KiKi Iriafen grabbed the entire USC team against Mississippi State and put them on her back as she scored a season-high 36 points and was one rebound away from having a double-double as she had nine on the night. Iriafen has been a huge lift for USC this season, transferring in from Stanford, and is the Trojans second-leading scorer behind Watkins with 18.6 points per game.
The other important thing that Iriafen brings to her game that will help the Trojans is her veteran presence and leadership ability. In USC's game against Mississippi State, after Watkins went down, both teams started to get a bit chippy, and instead of playing into it, Iriafen was the first the get between her teammates and calm them down.
As a senior on this team and a big presence down low, Iriafen will be the biggest problem now that teams will have to game plan for.
2. Avery Howell
Avery Howell has contributed so much to this USC team just as a freshman and now with Watkins out, she will probably be called upon to help take the load off of some of the other USC players with Watkins out.
Before Watkins's injury, Howell was averaging about 20 minutes a game and a modest 7.1 points per season, however, after the Watkins injury last night, Howell played about 28 minutes against the Bulldogs and scored 18 points, tying her career high. Howell as a guard may be called upon more, especially when others get into foul trouble.
Against Mississippi State, Howell also had six assists, showing he has a great vision of the court, and having that is incredibly helpful with Watkins out.
3. Rayah Marshall
Even though Watkins is a guard, she is always a force to be reckoned with down low when she gets to the basket. Not only did she have an elite ability to finish at the rim, but she also had a nose for the ball and could rebound against any big down low. Without that presence, center Rayah Marshall will have to step up even more in the absence of Watkins.
Marshall has averaged about 25 minutes per game this season and is still a solid scorer with 7.4 points per game, but more attention most likely goes to players like Iriafen and Kennedy Smith, the Trojans need a solid presence down low who can finish at the rim. Marshall also will help in the rebounding game, as she averages 8.2 rebounds per game.