LOS ANGELES — In the blink of an eye, and the buckle of a knee, the cheers that had filled the Galen Center on Monday night went silent.
Concern fell over the arena, because USC star point guard JuJu Watkins had just gone down in a heap, audibly wailing as she grabbed her right knee during the first quarter of the Trojans’ NCAA Tournament second-round game against Mississippi State.
While on a fast-break, Watkins had tried to deke a pair of Bulldog defenders by quickly changing pace for her patented Euro-step, but when she planted her right leg to make the move, it gave out.
As the video board showed the replay, that silence yielded to boos. The jeering, seemingly, came without a clear direction. It could have been at Mississippi State’s Chandler Prater, who had fouled Watkins, or at the angst of the situation.
But, among those boos, one fan took a positive turn, bellowing, “let’s show them how deep this roster is!”
Indeed, the USC women’s basketball team fulfilled the positive request. With Watkins out after her fall at the 4:43 mark of the first quarter, the top-seeded Trojans (30-3) rallied together, playing an unselfish brand of basketball, with an offense that ran through senior Kiki Iriafen to dominate the Bulldogs, 96-59, and advance to the Sweet 16 in Spokane, Washington, where they will face Kansas State on Saturday.
Iriafen scored a season-high 36 points in USC’s second-round win, shooting 16 for 22 from the field, while grabbing nine rebounds. Avery Howell added 18 points and was 4 for 9 from 3-point range, while Kayleigh Heckel filled the ball-handling role left by Watkins, dishing six assists and scoring 13 points.
The Trojans, who held Mississippi State scoreless for its first eight possessions, limited the Bulldogs to 20-of-64 shooting for the night, and forced 20 turnovers.
And, they let the Bulldogs (22-12) – who were booed every time they touched the ball after Watkins was injured – know about it.
Heckel and Kennedy Smith clapped the floor on defense and got into the Bulldogs’ ball-handlers. Rayah Marshall stared down opponents after each of her four blocked shots. The bench rose their left hand in the air to copy Iriafen whenever she finished a left-handed layup.
And when Marshall found herself wide open on the left wing with just a couple of seconds left and banked in a 3-pointer to beat the buzzer, the whole squad swarmed her at midcourt.
Iriafen bumped her chest, Howell enveloped her in an embrace, and Aaliyah Gayles wagged her tongue before dapping Marshall up.
In fact, the Trojans made shots to beat the buzzer in the first, second and third quarters.
While all the joy for USC’s dominance came with a grain of salt as Watkins’ injury remained in the back of minds – and the front of hearts – throughout Monday’s game, her teammates did their best to create a different headline.
Her absence gave way for Iriafen to be the hub of the offense.
She scored on consecutive possessions in the first half, setting up on the left elbow and driving to the basket, then countering with a mid-range jump shot after the Bulldogs took the drive away.
In the second half, she ran pick-and-rolls with Smith and Heckel, the USC bench making goggle signs over their eyes as the guards found her for finger-roll finishes. Iriafen knocked down another mid-range jumper, bobbing her head to mimic the ball bouncing off the rim and in.
By the third quarter, the Galen Center Em-C, D.J. Mal-ski, started playing the chorus of Drake’s “In My Feelings” which goes: “Kiki, do you love me?”
Iriafen looked as if she felt that way about basketball.
Her offense, USC’s defense, the Trojans’ collective enthusiasm, changed the tone of the Galen Center on a night when emotions yo-yo’d on a string.
Instead of wallowing in the unknown of Watkins’ status, which remained unclear through Monday’s final buzzer, the Trojans stuck together and showed their depth.
More to come on this story.