USC Trojans Superstar JuJu Watkins Earns Second Big Ten Player Of The Week Honors

It's been a busy week for USC Trojans women's basketball star JuJu Watkins. The sophomore guard picked up a huge win over the UConn Huskies and Paige Bueckers, and Watkins was named the Big Ten Player of the Week for the second time this season.

Dec 10, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; Southern California Trojans guard JuJu Watkins (12) reacts in the second half against the Fresno State Bulldogs at Galen Center. USC defeated Fresno State 89-40. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The USC Trojans' women's basketball team beat No. 4 UConn and Paige Bueckers 72-70. It was a bit of a revenge game for the Women of Troy as the Huskies defeated USC in last season's Elite Eight matchup in the 2023 NCAA tournament.

USC guard JuJu Watkins had one of her best games of the season in the win and for her efforts, she was named the Big Ten Player of the Week.

Dec 21, 2024; Hartford, Connecticut, USA; UConn Huskies guard Paige Bueckers (5) and USC Trojans guard JuJu Watkins (12) on the court in the first half at XL Center. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images / David Butler II-Imagn Images

In a game that's been highly anticipated since it was announced, Watkins scored 25 points, a game-high, with 56 shooting percentage in one of her most effective nights on the season on the offensive end. She tacked on six rebounds, five assists, and three blocks in the win.

It was exactly the type of game that USC needed heading into Big Ten play. Watkins out dueled fellow superstar Bueckers, who had 22 points in the losing effort.

It's the second time this season that Watkins was named as the conference's player of the week. In early December, she was named as the player of the week for the first time after big wins over Oregon and California Baptist. Watkins has also been named as the AP National Player of the Week as well as she continues to collect the in-season recognitions.

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Yeah JuJu ‼️@Jujubballin is your Big Ten Player of the Week ✌️ pic.twitter.com/B00d67AXZJ

— USC Women's Basketball (@USCWBB) December 9, 2024

Watkins had a 40 and 21 point performance over Oregon and Cal Baptist respectively during her stellar week of Dec. 1-8. She's been a scoring machine in her second year at USC, only finishing with less than 20 points once this season in an early season win over Cal Poly. She had 16 points in the win. Watkins has scored 25 points or more in five of USC's 12 games player so far.

The Trojans concluded their non-conference schedule with a 11-1 record with wins over No. 20 Ole Miss in the season opener and on the road at UConn. Their lone loss comes at the Galen Center, where USC fell short against No. 6 Notre Dame 74-61.

Interestingly enough, last season the Trojans came out of their non-conference schedule with an undefeated record before suffering their first loss of the season to UCLA, falling 74-61.

USC will now look ahead to the remainder of their Big Ten schedule after already defeating fellow conference foe Oregon in Eugene on Dec. 7. The Trojans will take on No. 23 Michigan at home to end the calendar year on Dec. 29 before opening up the new year with a game vs. Nebraska at home on New Year's Day.

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