SPOKANE, Wash. -- After losing superstar JuJu Watkins to a season-ending ACL tear during a second-round NCAA tournament win over Mississippi State Bulldogs on Monday, the USC women's basketball team said it isn't lowering its March Madness expectations.
"It's not lost on us that we've lost a key piece, but we understand there's no 'woe is me,'" senior forward Kiki Iriafen said Friday ahead of the Trojans' Sweet 16 matchup against 5-seed Kansas State. "Other teams that we're playing are not going to play us any differently now that we don't have one of our key players. So for us, it's putting a chip on our shoulder and proving to the world that regardless of whatever adversity that we face, we can still accomplish our goals."
Added senior center Rayah Marshall: "Our goals are the same, and winning is our goal."
Watkins has taken the basketball world by storm since she arrived at USC ahead of the 2023-24 campaign. Last year, she propelled the Trojans to their best season in decades, culminating in their first Elite Eight appearance since 1994.
The expectations were even higher this season: Get to the Final Four and bring home a national championship for the first time since 1984. Behind Watkins, USC looked well-positioned to make that happen, winning the Big Ten regular-season title, reaching a season-high No. 2 ranking in The Associated Press poll and earning a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament with a 28-3 record.
Individually, the 6-foot-2 guard averaged 23.9 points, 6.8 rebounds and 3.4 assets and already has earned multiple national player of the year awards.
But even without its star, USC is not giving up on its aspirations.
"They're hurting and feeling for their friend and teammate," coach Lindsay Gottlieb said. "Everyone just loves JuJu so much, and at the same time their competitive spirit has not been impacted. They're here to win, and they want to win, and we believe that we can win."
Added Iriafen: "She gives so much for this team, gives so much to this program, that we want to make sure that we're going out and doing the same. ... This weekend, we're definitely playing for ourselves and we're playing for her, as well."
The Trojans have plenty of talent to help make up for Watkins' absence, starting with Iriafen. The Stanford transfer helped her squad get over the initial shock of Watkins' injury Monday, scoring 36 points against Mississippi State. USC also boasts the No. 1 recruiting class in the country, headlined by freshmen Kennedy Smith, Kayleigh Heckel and Avery Howell. Against the Bulldogs, that trio combined for 41 points.
"Everyone knows no one is replacing JuJu. She's one of one," Gottlieb said. "We just need to be the best versions of ourselves, and we need to do that together in order to have success. I don't think any one person will try to do more than what we know they're capable of, but I also think they're capable of a lot, and we're capable of enormity when we do it together. That's been the message more than anything else."
That challenge doesn't need to result in players feeling an additional weight, the Trojans said.
"I don't think anybody feels any pressure," Iriafen said. "I think, if anything, it's like more fuel to the fire because we hear everything people are saying about us, and we know that we're more than capable, and we have a lot of talent on this team to continue to keep playing and get to Tampa [site of the Final Four]."
In preparation for this weekend, Gottlieb said the team has addressed which players need to be in different spots and how they may need to make different reads without Watkins on the floor. But, she added, that "it doesn't have to be that the play is made in the same way that JuJu would have made it -- it's the play's got to get made."
For Kansas State, there's the element of the unknown, which could work in USC's favor.
"There's not many clips out there with her not on the floor," Kansas State coach Jeff Mittie said. "That's been a real challenge. There's maybe a hundred total. And they played so well without her.
"Kiki had a terrific game and she can do a lot for them, so we feel like there may be some things that they do there. There may be some things that they do with their shooters differently. So we'll have to be prepared for all of that."
USC also hangs its hat on defense, which will be critical against the Wildcats, who boast 6-foot-7 Ayoka Lee inside and surround her with multiple knockdown 3-point shooters.
"It's not going to be easy," Iriafen said. "They have a great post player. They have great shooters ... but I'm very confident as being able to do our jobs."
Watkins has yet to have surgery on her right knee. She attended practice with the team before it left for Spokane, Iriafen said, and plans to hold a watch party at home to cheer the team on from afar.
"She's super proud of us and just giving us so much love and support," Iriafen said. "She feels so confident what we can do and what we can accomplish."