USC Women’s Basketball: JuJu Watkins Was Almost Kicked Out Of The Gym Prior To Historic Night

That would have been a mistake.

Ahead of USC Trojans women's basketball wing JuJu Watkins' insane 51-point explosion in a 67-58 victory against the Stanford Cardinal last Thursday night, the 6'2" freshman out of Sierra Canyon School in Chatsworth was apparently almost booted out of the gym by a shortsighted security guard, as Alexa Philippou of ESPN details.

Watkins was shooting around after hours in the wake of a heartbreaking three-point home defeat against the Washington Huskies on Sunday night. USC had gone 1-3 in its last four contests to that point.

The guard called Trojans head coach Lindsay Gottlieb, inquiring if it would be copacetic to give Watkins the boot.

"No," Gottlieb told the security guard. "Let Ju be Ju."

Achieved during a road game against Tara VanDerveer's No. 4-ranked Stanford, Watkins' 51 points scored (on 14-of-26 shooting from the floor and 17-of-19 from the foul line), that number was the first contest in which a player scored 50 or more points in Division I play this year. She shattered the previous USC scoring record and also nearly broke eventual Las Vegas Aces WNBA Finals MVP Kelsey Plum's Pac-12 conference scoring record of 57 points against the Utah Utes, scored when Plum herself was with the Huskies.

Heading into the game, Gottlieb was impressed with Watkins' preparation.  

"All week I said, 'This kid is different,'" Gottlieb said. "She's special, the way she takes coaching, the way she's a teammate, the way she holds herself accountable, the way she raises her level. So I did not predict this, but I think that what is so special about her is everything inside, and then obviously it came out today in a way that, if you love basketball, I don't know how you're not blown away."