{"id":1713,"section":"sports","section_label":"Sports","url":"https://www.brokenews.co/sports/1713","headline":"JuJu Watkins returns from ACL tear with 21 points in USC rout","dek":"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.","body":"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.\n\nWatkins 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.\n\nBy 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.","published_at":"2026-11-02T23:20:46.962309+00:00","source_count":5,"written_from":[{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"USC star JuJu Watkins dazzles in first game in 588 days, scoring 21 points in rout","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/usc-star-juju-watkins-dazzles-233106956.html"},{"outlet":"The Athletic","publisher":"The Athletic","title":"USC star JuJu Watkins dazzles in first game in 588 days, scoring 21 points in rout","url":"https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7748959/2026/11/02/juju-watkins-usc-return-588-days/"},{"outlet":"CBS Sports","publisher":"CBS Sports","title":"JuJu Watkins returns after 588 days: USC star on family, the ACL tear and why 'there is no if' for the Trojans","url":"https://www.cbssports.com/womens-college-basketball/news/juju-watkins-returns-from-acl-tear-interview/"},{"outlet":"ESPN","publisher":"ESPN","title":"'She's even more explosive': JuJu Watkins is back and maybe better than ever","url":"https://www.espn.com/womens-college-basketball/story/_/id/50353736/juju-watkins-usc-return-knee-injury-player-year-wnba"},{"outlet":"New York Post","publisher":"New York Post","title":"JuJu Watkins returns: USC phenom ready to take over women’s college basketball","url":"https://nypost.com/2026/11/01/sports/juju-watkins-returns-usc-phenom-ready-to-take-over-womens-college-basketball/"}],"more_coverage":[{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"JuJu Watkins is back after 589 days. Why USC says she’s even better now","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/juju-watkins-back-589-days-110456557.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"USC Phenom JuJu Watkins Returns With Championship Ambitions","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/usc-phenom-juju-watkins-returns-140000404.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"JuJu Watkins recovery timeline: Inside USC star's lengthy road to return from ACL injury","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/juju-watkins-recovery-timeline-inside-190814546.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"JuJu Watkins drops 21 points in long-awaited return from ACL injury to lead No. 3 USC past UNLV in opener","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/womens-college-basketball/breaking-news/article/juju-watkins-drops-21-points-in-long-awaited-return-from-acl-injury-to-lead-no-3-usc-past-unlv-in-opener-231142381.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"JuJu Watkins returns with 21 points as USC teammates celebrate her comeback in 100-68 win over UNLV","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/juju-watkins-returns-21-points-001057487.html"},{"outlet":"ESPN","publisher":"ESPN","title":"Watkins scores 21 as USC celebrates return: 'The game is just better with her in it'","url":"https://www.espn.com/womens-college-basketball/story/_/id/50362241/juju-watkins-scores-21-points-return-acl-injury-usc-beats-unlv"},{"outlet":"New York Post","publisher":"New York Post","title":"USC star JuJu Watkins shines in long-awaited return for title contender","url":"https://nypost.com/2026/11/02/sports/usc-juju-watkins-return-shows-potential-for-title/"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"How USC’s JuJu Watkins performed in 1st game back in 588 days vs. UNLV","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/usc-juju-watkins-performed-1st-005758911.html"}],"image":{"url":"https://a3.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=%2Fphoto%2F2026%2F1029%2Fncw_juju%2Dwatkins_16x9.jpg","credit":"ESPN","width":1500},"embed":null,"license":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/","attribution":"Analysis data is licensed CC BY 4.0. Credit brokenews and link to the story page you took it from. Source headlines, story titles taken from a source headline, and quoted passages remain the property of their publishers and are quoted for comparison, not licensed onward.","terms":"https://www.brokenews.co/about#reuse"}