USC Women's Basketball: UConn's Paige Bueckers Speaks On JuJu Watkins Rivalry

Alex Kirschenbaum | Apr 1, 2024

Mar 30, 2024; Portland, OR, USA; USC Trojans guard JuJu Watkins (12) passes the ball during her Sweet Sixteen win against the Baylor Bears. / Troy Wayrynen-USA TODAY Sports

The 29-5 USC Trojans are gearing up for what could be a rock fight against the 32-5 University of Connecticut Huskies, per The Los Angeles Times' Thuc Nhi Nguyen. The two clubs will face each other in what could be an Elite Eight battle for the ages, as both look to advance to a Final Four matchup against either Caitlin Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes or Angel Reese and her reigning champion LSU Tigers. Right now, the Hawkeyes lead the Tigers by double digits with under two minutes to go. Clark has 37 points and 11 assists.

Both teams boast two of the best players in the country, with senior guard Paige Bueckers on the UConn side and freshman wing JuJu Watkins playing for her hometown Trojans (she went to high school at Sierra Canyon in Chatsworth).

“Her confidence, her fearlessness and the ability to just not care that she's a freshman, and just perform the way that she does at the level that she does, it's pretty amazing,” Bueckers said of Watkins.

When it comes to handling Bueckers, Watkins' talented Trojans teammates seem to understand the assignment, as graduate student guard Kayla Padilla noted.

“Obviously Paige is their JuJu basically, but as we know from our team, they have weapons all around,” Padilla said. “We just have to make sure we’re paying equal attention to everyone on the floor because we know they’re a full threat team.”