USC women's basketball tipped off one of its most highly-anticipated seasons since the Cheryl Miller days on Monday when it took a trip overseas to take on No. 20 Ole Miss. Despite carrying the No. 3 preseason ranking into the game, USC found itself in a dogfight that came down to the wire before it pulled out a 68-66 win.
During the first half of the game, USC superstar JuJu Watkins emphatically blocked Ole Miss guard Kennedy Todd-Williams' layup attempt and let her hear it after the play. Watkins' trash talk earned her a very questionable technical foul from the officials.
Women’s basketball is back and so are weak technical fouls
JuJu Watkins is the first culprit. pic.twitter.com/ZzDMjSCzkS
— Tyler DeLuca (@TylerDeLuca) November 4, 2024
The technical foul on the first day of the college basketball season got USC fans all over the internet riled up.
Article Continues Below“JuJu Watkins just picked up the weakest technical foul in basketball history,” one fan posted on X, formerly Twitter. Another added, “Bro 😂 college basketball starting that bulls**t already with showing emotions, already hit JuJu with a tech stop this bulls**t.”
Watkins finished with five blocks total on the day for USC, showcasing her defensive skills at the guard position. She also scored 27 points and added 10 rebounds on the way to a 1-0 start to her sophomore season.
At the end of the game, it wasn't Watkins who was putting the points on the board for USC. Instead, it was her new teammates who drained the winning free throws. Oregon State transfer Talia von Oelhoffen nailed a pair of free throws to tie the game at 66, and then Stanford transfer Kiki Iriafen drained a pair to give USC the lead at the end of the game.
Watkins is still the star of the show, and is one of the early-season favorites to take home National Player of the Year honors after averaging over 27 points per game as a freshman. However, it is those new additions to the team that make USC one of the title favorites coming into this season. While Watkins made a big impact on the Trojans' first win of the year, her teammates closed the deal and showed that this USC women's basketball team is much more than a one-woman show.