After all the milestones that USC sophomore guard JuJu Watkins accomplished last season, she added onto her already illustrious USC career by reaching 1,000 career points in just 38 career games during the Trojans’ 81-50 win over Santa Clara.
Watkins became the fastest Trojan to reach the mark and the fourth fastest to hit the mark in the history of women’s college basketball, tying Delaware’s Elena Della Donne and Weber State’s Kathy Miller.
“(Della Donne) is a great player, I grew up watching her and I love her game,” Watkins said. “Everybody on that list is extremely good company and I’m blessed to be in that position and grateful for everyone here.”
Watkins did it 20 games faster than USC great Cheryl Miller who held the record before her, and reached the mark two games quicker than Iowa legend Caitlin Clark who currently holds the Division I record of 3,951 points in a career.
Watkins became the 30th Trojan to reach the milestone and only needed 16 points to break the record, but at first it seemed like she might not reach it.
She was on track after nailing a 3-pointer at the end of the first quarter to reach eight points, but the beginning of the second quarter was a completely different story.
Watkins was still getting the looks she wanted, whether that was from beyond the arc or in the midrange, but nothing was falling. She missed five straight shots to open the second and those misses snowballed in her committing a foul and turning the ball over during that stretch.
After that dry spell, Watkins was shooting 25% from the field. She decided to test Santa Clara’s defense again, this time pulling up at the free-throw line and nailing a shot off the back of the rim. She slapped her hands together and shook her head after finally getting one to go her way.
That’s all she needed.
The jump shot from the charity stripe paved the way for Watkins to reach the milestone. She made two layups in a row off of two straight Santa Clara turnovers, including a forced steal of her own. She hit a 3-pointer just 40 seconds later to finish the first half with 15 points.
Watkins took her first shot of the second half a little over three minutes into the third quarter in the midrange and sunk it, cementing herself again in the record books. She would go on to finish the game with a team-high 22 points, adding five rebounds, five assists and two steals.
USC held a steady pace overall offensively and defensively through the first half, finishing the first quarter up 12 points and the second quarter up 13. Santa Clara targeted its focus towards graduate forward Kiki Iriafen, double teaming her when she had possession inside to start the game and not driving towards her on defense.
That allowed for senior forward Rayah Marshall, Iriafen’s opposite in the post, to shine. Marshall had blocks on two straight possessions in the first quarter while scoring with ease inside. Marshall finished with 12 points, five rebounds and two blocks on her birthday.
“Rayah is such an anchor for this team,” Iriafen said. “She brings a lot of energy and is allowing us to play with confidence because of all the knowledge that she has, being here for four years.”
Marshall’s presence inside forced Santa Clara’s defense to stop double-teaming Iriafen, which opened up the floor for her to make shots from the top of the key and score inside. Iriafen finished as USC’s second-highest scorer behind Watkins with 20 points, seven rebounds and three steals.
Freshman guard Kennedy Smith was another key contributor on the defensive end, leading USC in steals. She recorded five of the Trojans’ 14 steals on the day.
One area of concern for USC to look at is its 3-point shooting. The Trojans shot a combined 6-for-28 from deep at an underwhelming 21.4%, but USC head coach Lindsay Gottlieb isn’t worried about the team’s struggles from beyond the arc.
“I have a lot of confidence in our shooters,” Gottlieb said. “I want us to find the right shots and then trust that we’ll knock them down. I think we got a lot of great shots because people were packing the paint a bit so we’re trying to take what the defense gives us.”
Galen Center was filled with hundreds of students that are a part of the Los Angeles Unified School District as they set the tone for the atmosphere in the arena. Gottlieb and her team will hope that the atmosphere will be electric again as their next contest is their biggest test early in the season.
USC will take on No. 6 Notre Dame at home next Saturday, November 23 at 1 p.m. in a primetime matchup on NBC that’ll feature two of the best sophomores in the country in Watkins and Fighting Irish guard Hannah Hidalgo.