USC Women's Basketball: How "JuJu And The Nerds" Helped Trojans Vanquish UCLA

When your 14-2 USC Trojans beat the 14-1 UCLA Bruins on Sunday night, 73-65, in front of a sold-out Galen Center crowd, it served as a fitting rebuttal to UCLA's initial 71-64 December 30th victory over USC.

According to Cameron Ruby of The Next, fifth-year seniors Mackenzie Forbes, Kayla Padilla, and Charisma Osborne were critical contributors.

Trojans head coach Lindsay Gottlieb has cooked up a fitting nickname for new additions Forbes, Padilla, and their fellow Ivy League transfer Kaitlyn Davis, plus freshman wing JuJu Watkins. I'll let her explain.

“I don’t think I went into the transfer portal and said, ‘[Okay] we have JuJu coming, we need to get three Ivy League kids.’ But the way it’s turned out, I sometimes refer to [them] as ‘JuJu and the nerds,’” Coach Lindsay Gottlieb told reporters after the victory on Sunday. “There’s something unique about this team. To have three Ivy League grad transfers and Roxanne [Makolo] who is a mature kid, they’ve gotten over themselves. They’re so supportive of JuJu.”

Watkins, an LA native who joined USC by way of Sierra Canyon School in Chatsworth, chipped in a game-high 32 points while shooting 8-of-22 from the floor and 16-of-16 from the foul line. Forbes notched 18 points while shooting 6-of-16 from the floor and 3-of-5 from the charity stripe. Padilla had 13 points while shooting 4-of-7 from the field and 3-of-4 from the foul line.