The USC women's basketball team earned a 71-25 win to begin the NCAA Tournament. The victory, however, came with some controversy. Despite seemingly dealing with an injury (possibly multiple injuries), USC star JuJu Watkins re-entered the game after exiting with USC holding a big lead in the fourth quarter. USC head coach Lindsay Gottlieb's decision led to some backlash from fans. Gottlieb explained the circumstances after the game, via Ryan Rartje of The Los Angeles Times.
"I trust her. I listen to her," Gottlieb said. "I trust our trainers and I say, ‘You good?’ When she says she's good, I'm probably not going to shut her down."
Fans voice frustration over Lindsay Gottlieb's JuJu Watkins decision
Watkins shut down any concern in reference to the injury situation after the game. It appears that she will be alright. Nevertheless, Gottlieb's decision to leave Watkins in the game led to frustration from some fans.
"Is chasing Caitlin Clark's scoring record really worth risking further injury? Juju Watkins rolled her ankle in the 3rd quarter after having a wrist injury earlier, and another ankle injury," one fan wrote on X (formerly Twitter). "She reenters the game to start the 4th quarter up 40 to stat pad 2 more points."
"Lindsay Gottlieb, USC women's basketball head coach, I'm so glad she is taking some heat for playing her star player JuJu Watkins in the fourth quarter of a blowout game," another fan added. "Watkins left the game in the 3rd quarter because she landed awkwardly on her ankle. Winning 53-16 entering the 4th quarter, Gottlieb elected to send Watkins back on to the court.
"#1 What the h*ll are you thinking??? USC needs to win 5 more games. #2 Poor sportsmanship. Any coach with poor sportsmanship doesn't work hard at their profession. This is a fact! If Gottlieb worked hard at improving her players, she would have sportsmanship. After Watkins leaves USC for the WNBA, USC Women's basketball will fall deep into the bottom of the standings. That's another fact!"
There were other similar posts on social media as well. Fans did not like the idea of Watkins re-entering the first game of the NCAA Tournament while the team held a convincing lead late in the contest. It goes without saying, but USC will need Watkins on the floor in order to make a serious run in the tournament.
USC clearly didn't have too much concern over Watkins' injury situation. If there was serious concern, one has to imagine the star would not have returned.
The team will see how Watkins is feeling before their second game of the tournament. The hope, of course, is that the injuries will indeed prove to not be serious. It will be a situation to monitor, however.