USC Women's Basketball: Stanford Head Coach's Defense No Match For JuJu Watkins
It's been a few days since JuJu Watkins put up an incredible 51 points in USC women's basketball's win over Stanford, but the accomplishment has still been one of the biggest performances in college basketball this season. Watkins' 51 points was the highest point total in women's college basketball this season and the highest in USC history.
What makes Watkins' performance extra noteworthy is she scored 51 against Stanford and head coach Tara VanDerveer, who is the winningest coach in college basketball history with over 1,200 career wins. VanDerveer has an otherworldly .818 career winning percentage, but her Stanford squad was no match for Watkins last Friday.
Watkins' game was so special, that she earned huge praise from VanDerveer following the game.
“She’s an incredibly talented player. If she’s not shooting well then it might be a different story. But she got going,” VanDerveer said. “We tried a lot of different people guarding her, we tried some different things against here. We fouled her too much, too, she had 19 free throws. We didn’t do the job we needed to do.”
Stanford has been one of the top teams all season, with an overall record of 20-3, and ranked No. 6 in the Pac-12. The Cardinal is ranked first in the Pac-12, but once again JuJu Watkins' magic was too much for an opposing squad.
Watkins' freshman season is proving to be one for the ages, with Watkins piling up accolades and watch list nods, including the Naismith Award Watch List and the Wooden Award Late Season Top 20 Watch List.
