JuJu Watkins and USC Put On a Show In Fire-Ravaged L.A.
Allen Wallace
USC, JuJu Watkins gives Los Angeles ‘two hours of joy’ in win over Penn State
In front of a home crowd that needed ‘some semblance of normalcy’ amid L.A. fires, as Cheryl Miller put it, Watkins dazzled with 35 points on 13-of-15 shooting in their 95-73 win over Penn State
JuJu Watkins gets off a jumper outside the PSU defense during the second half Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025, in Los Angeles at the Galen Center. (AP Photo/Jayne Kamin-Oncea)
Luca Evans (OC Register) — LOS ANGELES — A few days before Cherie Nelson was set to be honored on the hardwood at the Galen Center, her mother Irene lost her home. It sat, once, on the intersection of North Fair Oaks Avenue and Pine Street in Altadena. That was before the nightmare.
It was probably “up in the air,” as USC women’s head coach Lindsay Gottlieb put it if Altadena-native Nelson was going to come on Sunday night. Alumni were driving in from parts of Southern California, and flying in from parts of the United States, for a nod to the program’s long history at halftime of USC’s game against Penn State. Nelson, once USC’s all-time single-game points leader before JuJu Watkins shattered it last year at Stanford, was a valued guest. Tragedy simply seemed ready to get in the way.
(Nelson played basketball for the Women of Troy from 1985-89, earning All-Pac-10 first team honors in 1987 and 1989 and named the Pac-10 Player of the Year in 1988).
But even as wildfires had claimed her home, and those of thousands of her Los Angeles neighbors, 98-year-old Irene wanted to see the Women of Troy. So she and Nelson (pictured with JuJu, the only Trojans to score 50+ points in a game) came and sat courtside, filtering in Sunday night with thousands across Southern California that needed some “semblance of normalcy,” as fellow legend Cheryl Miller put it.
Nelson left Sunday night with a show, this USC women’s program (16-1, 6-0 Big Ten) pouring their soul onto the hardwood in a 95-73 win over Penn State. She left with a photo with JuJu Watkins, who played perhaps the most transcendent and near-flawless game of her one-and-a-half seasons of transcendence in a USC jersey, dropping 35 points on 13-of-15 shooting and making her first 11 shots from the floor.
And Cherie Nelson left, as many did, with a much-needed smile.
“We appreciate the opportunity to help the community in that way,” Gottlieb said postgame, “to give people two hours of joy.”
Watkins, as her assistant coach Beth Burns marvels, is an artist. She’s done her best work, throughout time, when she paints with joy. But joy, recently, has been hard to come by in the only home she’s ever known.
Outside the Galen Center’s walls, on Sunday, her city was suffering. Ash has drifted from Los Angeles sky, and the Palisades and Eaton fires have rampaged. Her own family, even, was forced to temporarily evacuate – all is fine now – as parents Bobby and Sari Watkins told the Southern California News Group.
But the some-6,000 that flocked to Galen Sunday night needed to “get away from all the craziness of the world right now,” as fan Jason Ito said. The people needed a reprieve. And Watkins gave them one.
She played likely the best all-around game of her USC career Sunday: a double-double (35 points, 11 rebounds), five steals and three blocks. The true eye-catcher, though, was not the black ink itself but in the flourish of Watkins’ writing. She downshifted on a second-quarter hesitation with mouth agape, ducking through a thicket of Penn State arms for a pro-move finish to put USC up 13 early. She nabbed a steal to end the first half and took off with time waning, finishing through contact for a righty layup to cap off a 15-0 Trojans run before the break, Watkins beaming at a jumbotron camera as the Galen Center erupted and fellow star Kiki Iriafen lifted her up in a bear-hug.
“That run in the second quarter was impressive,” Gottlieb said. “We know we have the ability to do that, and then it’s about understanding our power to continue doing that, possession after possession.” After USC’s run to close the first half, Penn State (9-8, 0-6) never recovered, with the Trojans leading by as much as 27 points.
“I think our goal was to just, kind of put on a show, and entertain people for a couple of hours,” Watkins said postgame, part of a thoughtful presser in which she thanked firefighters and pledged philanthropic help to Los Angeles. “And I think I kind of took pride in that as well, in my performance. I see it as a great opportunity to have fun, the vibes are kind of down here in L.A. This week has been hard for L.A., for me. Just hearing about the stories, people I know were affected by it as well. We’ve been doing what we can to stay locked in and have as much positivity as possible.”
Watkins was definitely locked in, eclipsing the 30-point mark for the 19th time in her Trojans career while shooting 13 for 15 from the field. She attacked the rim without hesitation, absorbing contact and finishing with 16 points in the paint while going seven for nine from the free-throw line.
Her defensive effort embodied the team’s goal as she dove for loose balls, battled for rebounds and relentlessly swiped for steals. She also finished with five steals and three blocks.
It’s okay, Gottlieb implored to her team across the past week, to focus on basketball. They were safe, on Sunday, USC monitored air quality inside and outside Galen as other games across Los Angeles were postponed or canceled. There were bigger things going on, yes. But Penn State still made the trip to Los Angeles. There was an opportunity, simply, to hone in on their craft in the time they had.
“That has an importance, as well, in their community,” Gottlieb said postgame. “And I think they’ve really bought into that.”
Sunday wasn’t perfect, USC’s defense was too often lackadaisical on the interior in letting Penn State hang around for 16 minutes. But freshman Kayleigh Heckel provided a spark off the bench, with nine points and four assists. And the Trojans pulled away thanks to Watkins and Iriafen, Gottlieb calling the two “the best duo in the country” after USC’s win over Maryland Wednesday.
As visually vibrant as Watkins’ game has become, Iriafen has become a methodical mechanic in the post, racking up a dominant 28 points on 12-of-18 shooting in feasting inside from the jump. Iriafen and Watkins have scored in double digits in every game this season.
Most in Galen on Sunday knew someone who’d lost something in the past week. Watkins. Gottlieb. Iriafen. Nelson. And there was a sense of unity in distraction, both from those on the floor and those watching.
“If we can put a smile on people’s faces for two hours, or kind of give them an escape to get away from everything that’s going on right now,” Iriafen said, “we’re super grateful to do that.”
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