USC ahead Kiki Iriafen delivered when it mattered most after JuJu Watkins’ devastating knee damage.
The 6-foot-3 senior, who’s projected to be a top-five choose within the 2025 WNBA Draft, scored a career-high 36 factors on 16-for-22 capturing within the Trojans’ 96-59 win over the Mississippi State Bulldogs Monday within the second spherical of the 2025 Ladies’s NCAA match.
Iriafen — who’s in her first season at USC as a graduate switch from Stanford — added 9 rebounds and two assists in Watkins’ absence after the USC celebrity suffered a torn ACL in her proper knee simply 5 minutes into sport at Galen Heart, the place the Trojans punched their ticket to the Candy 16 for a second straight season.
Watkins, 19, will bear season-ending surgical procedure after which start rehabilitation, the crew introduced.
Watkins drove to the basket on a quick break and was fouled between two Bulldogs defenders when she fell to the ground grabbing her knee in ache.
The sophomore ahead, who’s averaging 24.6 factors, seven rebounds, 3.5 assists, 2.3 steals and 1.8 blocks, was carried off the courtroom and didn’t return to bench.
“We didn’t want to let her down,” Iriafen advised ESPN. “We just want to keep dancing, so whatever it takes is what I wanted to do. I think it just shows our toughness.”
Watkins performed an important function in USC’s 30-3 mark as they earned one of many No. 1 seeds within the NCAA Event.
Now the focus will shift to Iriafen as USC faces Kansas State on Saturday within the Candy 16 with a possible showdown with UConn looming within the Elite Eight.
The Trojans suffered an 80-73 loss within the Elite Eight to the Huskies final yr.
Iriafen is averaging 18.6 factors on 50.6 p.c capturing, 8.5 rebounds and 1.9 assists in her first season with USC.
She appeared in and began all 36 video games for Stanford within the 2023-24 season and averaged 19.4 factors and 11.0 rebounds per sport — en path to being named Pac-12 Most Improved Participant of the Yr.
Iriafen was named the 2024 Katrina McClain Award winner as one of the best energy ahead within the nation.
