USC women's basketball star JuJu Watkins showed remarkable toughness and perseverance in Saturday's NCAA Tournament game versus UNC Greensboro, but she also probably gave fans a big scare. The unanimous All-American guard rolled her ankle in the fourth quarter of the Trojans' 71-25 trouncing of the Spartans and limped off the court, via CJ Fogler.

Considering that UNC Greensboro did not even have 20 points at the time, most people assumed Watkins' day was done. Perhaps in an attempt to send a message to the team's Round of 32 opponent (either California or Mississippi State), she returned to the floor and actually played for a couple more minutes.

The decision for head coach Lindsay Gottlieb to send the Wooden Award favorite back onto the court in a blowout immediately raised eye-brows. Confusion increased after Watkins hit the side of the backboard on a baseline jumper. But she settled in and ended up adding to her stat line before exiting the game for good around the six-minute mark, finishing with 22 points on 8-of-17 shooting with eight rebounds and three steals.

The Trojans are counting on JuJu Watkins to lead them to the pinnacle

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USC can lean on another game-changing talent in Kiki Iriafen, but its national championship chances are non-existent without a healthy and capable Watkins. Beating UConn and other contenders is difficult enough when at full strength. It is extremely risky to take needless chances against a woefully outmatched No. 16 seed, especially since she dealt with a hand injury earlier in the contest.

Though, the fact that she did return implies that there is no concern about an ankle sprain.

That means fans should get to continue watching arguably the most electrifying player in the 2025 Women's NCAA Tournament. JuJu Watkins has succeeded Caitlin Clark as the face of the sport and has helped USC women's basketball return to prominence. But she and her teammates will not be satisfied until they have a title to validate all the growth the program has enjoyed the last few years.

The top-seeded Trojans are back at it on Monday.