In the Sweet 16, USC Trojans faced Kansas State without star player JuJu Watkins, yet they secured a 67-61 victory. Despite difficulties, the team, led by coach Lindsay Gottlieb, emphasized unity and the importance of leveraging each player's strengths to fill the void left by Watkins. They honored her spirit with shirts displaying her face and a Funko Pop doll on the bench. The team's humble celebration reflects their focus on continuing their championship journey and underscoring their collaborative approach to achieving success in their postseason run.
This team is really focused on continuing our journey and achieving our goals even though the path looks a little different than it did just a few days ago, coach Lindsay Gottlieb said. We're capable of enormity when we do it together, and that's been the message more than anything else.
What USC needed to do was re-create Watkins in the aggregate by leaning into their remaining players' individual strengths, which is exactly what transpired in a 67-61 win.
That was just a little appreciation for JuJu and letting her know we're thinking of her, and we love her. And we're grateful for where we are, and a lot of why we're here is because of her, senior Rayah Marshall said.
Even when the Wildcats were able to focus on the other players, the load was so evenly spread that it was impossible to stop all of them.
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