USC star JuJu Watkins sets freshman scoring record in Trojans' loss to No. 18 Utah

JuJu Watkins has done it again.

The Trojans star set another program record on Sunday afternoon in No. 7 USC’s 74-68 loss to No. 18 Utah at the Galen Center in Los Angeles. Watkins dropped 30 points in the loss, which officially broke USC’s freshman single-season scoring record.

Watkins entered the contest needing just nine points to break the program record that was set by Paula McGee. Despite shooting just 3-of-13 from the field in the first 20 minutes and missing all three of her 3-point attempts, Watkins entered the locker room with 10 points after hitting a pair of free throws in the final seconds of the second quarter.

Though USC tied the game briefly midway through the third, that was as close as it got. Utah surged back ahead and held on to take a six-point win, which snapped USC’s seven-game win streak.

Alissa Pili led the Utes with 23 points and nine rebounds. Kennedy McQueen added 14 points, and Dasia Young finished with 13 points off the bench. Utah, now at 20-8 on the season, has won five of its last seven games. It’ll host Washington State and Washington to close out the regular season next week.

Watkins added seven rebounds and five assists, and shot 10-of-30 from the field to go with her 30 points in the loss for USC. Kaitlyn Davis added 13 points and eight rebounds, and McKenzie Forbes added 10 points. They were the only three Trojans players to hit double figures, and the team shot just 4-of-20 from behind the arc as a unit.

Watkins has already set a number of records at USC this season. She dropped her 11th 30-point game in the Trojans’ win over No. 11 Colorado on Friday, which overtook Cheryl Miller’s USC record of 10 such games in a single season. She also recorded a 51-point game in an upset win over Stanford, which broke a school record that dated back to 1989.

Watkins entered Sunday’s game averaging 28.1 points, which is the second-best output in the country, and seven rebounds per game this season. She can break Miller’s single-season scoring record later this spring, too, depending on how far the Trojans make it in both the conference and NCAA tournaments.

USC has just two games left in the regular season, first at Arizona on Thursday and then at Arizona State on Saturday. The Trojans now hold a 21-5 record, and trails only Stanford in the Pac-12 standings.