The two-time All-American scored her first points of the comeback on a three-point play as No. 3 USC beat UNLV 100-68.
JuJu Watkins played her first regulation game in 588 days on Monday, and the layoff did not show. The USC guard scored 21 points as the No. 3 Trojans blew out UNLV 100-68 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Watkins tore her right ACL on March 24, 2025, during a March Madness game, ending a sophomore season in which she was the reigning player of the year. She did not waste time getting going in her return, scoring her first bucket with just under six minutes left in the first quarter by driving to the hoop, drawing a foul and completing the three-point play to put USC ahead 6-5.
By halftime the 6-foot-2 senior had 10 points and three rebounds, and she kept producing the rest of the way to finish with 21 points in the win. For a player who missed more than a year of competition, it was about as clean a return as a program could ask for, and it gives USC a healthy, scoring Watkins heading into a season where the Trojans enter ranked among the nation's best.