USC Women's Basketball: Despite Dominating Year JuJu Watkins Has Troublesome December Stats

JuJu Watkins has been struggling a bit in December.

The USC Trojans have lost back-to-back games, resulting in their plummeting in the AP rankings this week. Despite the missteps in the last two games, they are still a hugely talented team. 

A big reason why they have seen such success is due to freshman phenom JuJu Watkins. Watkins has been breaking records left and right, including winning nine Freshman of the Week honors. 

Her 26.1 PPG is still #2 in the entire nation, only behind Caitlin Clark of Stanford. Despite Watkins being one of the most dynamic players in the NCAA, she has had a concerning December. 

USC women's basketball (13-3) has dropped to no. 11 in the latest AP poll after back-to-back road losses to Utah and Colorado. Freshman JuJu Watkins continues to have a dominant all-around impact, but she's shooting 37% from the field + 18% from 3PT since late Dec.

— Luca Evans (@bylucaevans) January 22, 2024

Watkins may have all the records and stats, but her 37% from the field is a bit concerning. Even the 18% 3PT is not where she should be. 

Interestingly, after Watkins and the Trojans beat the Bruins, she fell to the floor from cramping. While head coach Lindsay Gottlieb indicated that it was nothing serious, could it be that Watkins might have been nursing an injury in December?

This is just wild speculation as we have all seen her flying all over the court in every game, and having one of the best transition games in the entirety of the NCAA.

Still, it is a bit of concern that her December percentages took this much of a dive. We full expect to see that number rise this month, but it could be that she is experiencing a bit of a slump from playing too hard.