USC women's basketball superstar freshman JuJu Watkins made history Friday night in a record-setting 51-point performance against No. 4 Stanford.
Watkins, who nearly totaled Stanford's entire scoring output in the 67-58 Trojans victory, finished the game with a stat line of 51 points, 11 rebounds, 2 assists, and 4 steals. She was 6-11 from three-point range and 17-19 from the free-throw line. Only three other Trojans scored Friday; McKenzie Forbes had 12, while Rayah Marshall and Clarice Akunwafo each had two points. Watkins accounted for 76 percent of her team's points, the most of any Division I player in the last 25 years, according to ESPN.
The 51-point mark is the most in USC women's basketball history, breaking a nearly 35-year-old record. Cherie Nelson previously held the record with a 50-point performance against Cal on March 11, 1989. Watkins' big night also made her the first player in the last 25 seasons to score 50 points against a team ranked in the top five of the Associated Press poll, according to ESPN.
JuJu Watkins with a 50 piece‼️
51 points
14-26 FG
6-11 3PT
17-19 FT– Most points scored by a freshman since Elena Delle Donne in 2010
– USC single-game record (Cherie Nelson, 50 pts, 1989)All 14 shots @Jujubballin hit from the field ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/4M682ElJX9
— Sean Hurd (@seanahurd) February 3, 2024
During her freshman season, Watkins has proven to be an electric scorer. Through 18 games, Watkins is averaging 27.2 points per game, second-most in the nation. Only Iowa senior phenom Caitlin Clark has a higher scoring average this season.
Watkins, who has now scored 30 or more points in seven games this season, has been tasked with shouldering the burden often for the Trojans; her 43.0% usage rate is the highest in the country this season and ranks as the fourth-highest single-season rate in Division I since 2001-02.
The Trojans hope that Friday's win will stabilize what had been a rough recent stretch in PAC-12 play. Before the upset win over Stanford, USC had lost three of its last four games, although the first two losses came on the road at No. 20 Utah and No. 3 Colorado.
USC began the season with a 10-game winning streak, rising to sixth in the country, before losing a rivalry game 71-64 to No. 2 UCLA on Dec. 30. The Trojans got revenge on the Bruins on Jan. 14.
Watkins and the Trojans visit 13-9 Cal on Sunday. The Golden Bears have lost three in a row and six of their last seven games.