USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb says the sympathy for Watkins, who suffered a torn ACL early in the Trojans’ second-round NCAA Tournament win, “speaks mostly to JuJu and who she is.”

On Monday night, Iriafen did her best to make up for Watkins’ absence. She scored a season-high 36 points, all but two of which came after Watkins’ injury, crossing the 30-point mark for the first time since late November while taking a season-high 22 shots.

While heartbroken at the loss of star guard JuJu Watkins, Southern California’s players are determined to move forward in the women’s NCAA Tournament.