March 25 (UPI) — USC’s JuJu Watkins sustained a knee injury during the Trojans’ blowout victory over Mississippi State and will miss the remainder of the 2025 NCAA Division I women’s basketball tournament, the school announced.

Watkins sustained the right knee injury while on a breakaway with less than five minutes remaining in the 96-59 second-round triumph Monday at the Galen Center in Los Angeles.

“JuJu Watkins sustained a season-ending injury in the NCAA second round on Monday night,” the Trojans said. “She will undergo surgery and then begin rehabilitation shortly thereafter.”

The Trojans led 13-2 when senior forward Kiki Iriafen blocked senior guard/forward Eniya Russell. Iriafen then tossed the ball up to Watkins, who dashed up the right flank. Watkins took several dribbles, crossed half court and collapsed to the ground. She held onto her knee and remained on the floor.

Trojans players surrounded Watkins before she was helped off the floor and evaluated by the staff at Keck Hospital.

Watkins, 19, went 0 for 2 with three made free throws in the victory. She also chipped in two assists and a rebound. Iriafen scored a game-high 36 points for the Trojans.

“I am feeling a lot of emotions, obviously, but the biggest one is pride,” Trojans coach Lindsay Gottlieb told reporters. “What a performance by this group. When you throw a bunch of talented people on a team, it doesn’t become a team until you work through some things. I always thought throughout the year that if we had something to work on would be if things didn’t go right, right away, we sometimes stressed out. How about this? Something didn’t go right for us.

“You never want anyone to go down, especially someone like JuJu, who we all lean on in so many ways. But this team rallied. They rallied for her. They rallied for each other. Our fans had our back. I’m just really proud. I think we showed what kind of team we are.”

Watkins scored 23.9 points per game — the second-most in the nation — over 33 starts this season. The two-time All-American joined UConn’s Paige Bueckers, Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo and 12 others earlier this month on the Top-15 national ballot for the Wooden Award, which is handed out annually to the best player in college basketball.

The top-seeded Trojans (30-3) will face No. 5 Kansas State (29-7) in the Sweet 16 at 8 p.m. EDT Saturday in Spokane, Wash.