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By Bryan Colbert Jr.
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JuJu Watkins beat the first-quarter buzzer Sunday on the same floor where her season ended nearly 20 months ago.
By halftime, the USC guard was one rebound shy of a double-double. She still had half a game to play in front of a crowd that had waited since March 2025 to see her again.
Watkins finished with 32 points, a career-high 16 rebounds, six assists and five steals in No. 3 USC’s 118-40 win over Utah State at the Galen Center.
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According to ESPN Insights, she became the first Big Ten women’s basketball player in 25 years to finish a game with at least 30 points, 15 rebounds, five assists and five steals.
She did it in 27 minutes.
Sunday marked Watkins’ first home game since she tore her right ACL against Mississippi State in the second round of the 2025 NCAA Tournament.
She went 588 days between games before returning Nov. 2 in Las Vegas, where she scored 21 points in 21 minutes of USC’s 100-68 win over UNLV.
Freshman Saniyah Hall helped give the home crowd reason to cheer early. She made all four of her shots in the opening quarter, scoring 10 points before Watkins’ jumper at the horn gave USC a 36-11 lead. Hall finished with 20 for the second straight game.
Watkins had 16 points and nine rebounds by the break. By the end of the night, she had grabbed just three fewer rebounds than Utah State’s entire team.
The Trojans collected 23 offensive rebounds alone and scored 32 second-chance points.
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Six Trojans reached double figures as USC scored at least 100 in consecutive games for the first time since 1986. The 78-point win was the second largest in school history.
With 2:34 left, Watkins checked out to a standing ovation.
It was her 22nd career game with at least 30 points. After losing a full season to injury, she returned to her home floor and moved within three of Cheryl Miller’s USC record.
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