Los Angeles, CA – It’s not 7pm on Friday, but it’s noontime and JuJu Watkins turned up with her teammates as she broke another program and NCAA record. Achieving her 1000th career point and becoming the fastest collegiate women’s player to score in less than 40 games. USC celebrated their house party during homecoming weekend including the birthdays of Rayah Marshall and Vivian Iwuchukwu while garnering their second win of the week. USC got a little trouble for their double duty game, serving as a game and practice. Coach Gottlieb said, “I think Santa Clara is a really good basketball team and they challenged us with actions that were harder to guard.
Broncos played twice as good as Women of Troy previous home opponents, holding USC to under 90 points and breaking 35 to lose only by 31. USC didn’t have the Broncos in the first half and Santa Clara didn’t have Trojans by the second half as JuJu heated up, sinking an off the dribble jumper for her 19th game point and record-shattering 1000th point. USC’s KiKi Iriafen and Marshall got into the action, which he Broncos had no answer for their inside and outside game, respectively. “I think the emphasis was honing into the details and noticed they were doubling me, so I took what the defense gave me,” Iriafen explained in the postgame conference. JuJu and KiKi both combined for half of their team points leading them into a 4-0 record and handing the Broncos (2-1), another undefeated team, their first loss of the season as a parting gift.
Santa Clara remained within 12 points for most of the first half, not giving USC starters room to rest or even take their gas off the pedal. Reclaiming their party, Malia Samuels and Kennedy Smith turned up their half court defense with ball pressure that got the crowd revved up while stretching the lead to over 20 points. Santa Clara had 23 turnovers but had a couple of players who were able to penetrate the USC defense. Coach Gottlieb mentioned during postgame the play of Santa Clara’s Olivia Pollerd scoring in double figures despite holding her below her season average.
“With our team everyday, we’re trying to get better because we are so far away from where we want to be,” Coach Gottlieb commenced. Shifting their focus to next week’s showdown against Notre Dame, USC knows preparation from this week’s two home game blowouts and an opportunity to practice a week before tipoff could add up to a successful game plan. “I think I don’t take anything for granted. I am blessed to be in this position. Very grateful for the coaching staff, my teammates and couldn’t do it[scoring 1000 points] without them, JuJu affirmed, “it’s something to build off and now get ready for our next game.”
