Spokane regional preview: USC embraces ‘fight on’ motto after losing star forward JuJu Watkins to injury

JuJu Watkins was nowhere to be found Friday afternoon at the Arena.

And yet the USC star was everywhere – on social media and every other kind, but mostly in the hearts of her teammates and coaches.

If ever a major sports event was defined by who’s not here, it’s Spokane Regional 4 of the NCAA Women’s Tournament.

On Monday, the All-American guard suffered a season-ending ACL tear during a second-round NCAA game against Mississippi State.

Overcoming their shock, the Trojans went on to win that game.

Then tears flowed in the postgame locker room as condolences came from friends and rivals around the country.

“The outpouring of support for our program and for JuJu Watkins has been unbelievable,” USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb said during Friday’s media conference.

“I hope she can really feel the outpouring of love and support,” Gottlieb said of Watkins, who underwent surgery Tuesday and couldn’t make the trip to Spokane.

“I think she can,” Gottlieb said. “Because that’s how much she’s given to us and the game, and everyone’s giving it back to her and she’s going to come back stronger than ever.”

But what of the Trojans, who must regroup for a talented Kansas State squad? And if they win that, they face a daunting Elite Eight matchup Monday night against UConn or Oklahoma.

The USC motto, “Fight On,” has seldom meant more to those who must do the fighting.

Asked several times how they’re handling the loss of Watkins, several USC players responded with brave words and hardly a trace of emotion.

“Obviously, losing JuJu was a super-hard thing for our team and nobody wants to see any player of that caliber go down, especially JuJu with what she means for our team,” USC guard Avery Howell said.

“But we’ve got to do it for her at this point,” Howell said. “We don’t have doubt in anyone. We know people’s roles are going to be changing and expanding, but we’re built for this.”

It will be difficult, however, to replace Watkins and her 23.9 points per game.

“Obviously, we just rely on her for a lot of shot-making and playmaking. So other people’s roles are going to expand and have higher volume. But we’re confident in our abilities,” USC guard Talia von Oelhoffen said.

For Gottlieb, the challenge is to get more out of the other players without taking them out of their own comfort zones.

“But we’ve prepped for K-State in a way that we would for a two- or three-day prep for anybody with what we have,” Gottlieb said.

The top-seeded Trojans (30-3) face a K-State team that lost three out of four games before reaching the NCAAs. The fifth-seeded Wildcats (28-7) are coming off a one-point win at Kentucky in the second round.

KSU guard Temira Poindexter is shooting 40.5% from beyond the arc and averaging 12.7 points.

The Wildcats are aiming for their second Elite Eight appearance in program history and the first since 1982.

UConn is a 15½-point favorite in Saturday’s opener, and for good reason.

The third-ranked Huskies (33-3 ) went 21-0 in the Big East and are coming off their 12th straight and 30th overall conference tournament title.

At 138-24 overall, the Huskies are the winningest program in NCAA Tournament history, which includes UConn for the 36th consecutive year.

UConn hasn’t won the title since 2016 – an eternity by its lofty standards.

This year’s team averages 8.7 made 3-pointers, far more than the 6.6 given up each game by the Sooners.

UConn All-American guard Paige Bueckers is averaging 19.2 points along with 4.4 rebounds and 4.8 assists. Freshman forward Sarah Strong averaged 15.9 points and 10.1 rebounds over the past 10 games.

Raegan Beers is averaging 17.5 points and 9.3 rebounds for the Sooners (27-7). Payton Verhulst is averaging 14.6 points over the past 10 games.