LOS ANGELES (AP) — JuJu Watkins and her Southern California teammates have had plenty of time to stew and then get over their loss to rival UCLA in the Big Ten Tournament title game.
Nearly two weeks later, the top-seeded Trojans (28-3) are eager to return to their winning ways in March Madness.
They host 16th-seeded UNC Greensboro (25-6) in a first-round game Saturday at Galen Center, where the Trojans were 14-1 in the regular season.
“It’s been about urgency in each moment because it is a one-and-done situation, but still a confidence that we have everything that we need,” USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb said. “So a lot of our last two weeks have been about technical things and also about mindset. We can be one of the top teams that still has room for growth and that’s an exciting thing.”
Watkins led her team to the Elite Eight last year, losing to Paige Bueckers and UConn. In December, the Trojans beat UConn by two points. If both teams advance, they could face each other again in the Spokane Regional.
First, though, the Trojans face the Spartans, who were the Southern Conference regular season and tournament champions, earning the program’s second-ever NCAA Tournament appearance.
All eyes will be on Watkins, who is 79 points away from breaking Kelsey Mitchell’s two-year scoring total of 1,762. The star guard already surpassed Caitlin Clark’s two-year total of 1,662 points when she had 29 in the Big Ten title game loss.
Watkins’ will to win is well-known, but she sees the same commitment in her teammates.
“I think that’s really important,” she said. “Every day people come in here ready to go and it’s something that pushes me to be better. The sky’s the limit for this team, for sure.”
In Saturday’s second game, eighth-seeded California (25-8) plays No. 9 seed Mississippi State (21-11).
Racking up the miles
California joined the ACC from the West Coast-based Pac-12 this season. That meant trips to Clemson, Duke, Wake Forest and Virginia.
Toss in visits to Louisville and Notre Dame, plus the ACC Tournament in North Carolina, and the Golden Bears racked up their share of mileage.
To get to their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2019, however, they jumped on a short flight from the San Francisco Bay area to Los Angeles. No time changes necessary.
“We’ll have a lot of support,” forward Marta Suárez said. “At least a little bit more than in Greensboro, you know?”
Coach Charmin Smith said the team oversold its block of tickets this week.
Getting away from it
When Watkins needs to get her mind off basketball, she streams “Severance,” a science fiction psychological thriller.
Gottlieb took a night off ahead of March Madness to attend a Cleveland Cavaliers game against the Los Angeles Clippers this week. Gottlieb was an assistant for the NBA team from 2019-2021 before leaving for the Trojans.
“With everything going on in my head to just watch a game and to kind of be a fan and just watch what chemistry on the bench looks like, watch what those two high-level teams are doing,” Gottlieb said. “That kind of gets me in my zone when I can just take basketball from a different perspective.”
Cavs guard Darius Garland told Gottlieb how proud he is of her. Assistant Mike Gerrity, a USC grad, said he’s rooting for the Trojans.
“It shows how locked in people are on women’s basketball and what we’re doing here,” Gottlieb said. “They don’t try to give suggestions on what to run or what to do. They’re just supportive.”
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