USC Triple-Double: How will Women of Troy respond after JuJu Watkins tears ACL

Peristyle Podcast - USC Trojan Football Discussion

Ryan Abraham - USCFootball,com publisher

Sports, Basketball, Football

4.9 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 27 March 2025

⏱️ 97 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The USC Triple-Double Podcast -- the Peristyle Podcast's basketball-focused podcast -- returns with co-hosts Shotgun Spratling and Connor Morrissette (aka Mr. Triple Double) breaking down the Women of Troy's advancement to the Sweet 16 for the second consecutive season and the monumental cost that came with USC defeating Mississippi State, 96-59, in the Round of 32 matchup. Shotgun and Connor recall their immediate reactions of JuJu Watkins' devastating knee injury and discuss the impact the injury will have not only on this year's NCAA tournament but also on the future of the Trojans' program. They also talk about the charged-up atmosphere inside the Galen Center and debate whether or not the home crowd took it too far in their booing and jeering of the Bulldogs. After a break, USC freshman point guard Kayleigh Heckel joins the show. She talks about the Trojans' bouncing back from the loss of their teammate to go out and pummel Mississippi State for the rest of the game as the Trojans outscored MSU 83-57 after Watkins went down to the floor in pain. Heckel discusses how the team dynamics change without Watkins' presence and discusses the freshman class she is a part of that will need to step up the rest of the way this postseason. She chats about the bond the freshman group has as well as her relationships with some of the older players, including Kiki Iriafen and Watkins, who helped recruit Heckel to USC. Shotgun and Connor then look at where the Women of Troy stand heading into a Sweet 16 matchup with No. 5-seed Kansas State and debate who needs to step up the most for the Trojans to continue their season. The podcasting duo also do as much looking ahead as possible with undetermined rosters at the men's basketball team's Crown Basketball Tournament in Las Vegas. Please review, rate and subscribe to the Peristyle Podcast on Apple Podcasts! Make sure you check out USCFootball.com for complete coverage of this USC Trojans basketball and football teams. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello and welcome to the USC triple double podcast, your uncles, mothers, grand cousins, dogs, favorite USC basketball podcast.
0:25.6	I'm pretty sure of it, pretty sure of it. I haven't fact-checked that completely, but I'm pretty sure of it.
0:29.4	I'm your host, Shotgun Spratling, along my co-host, Connor Moore, said Mr. Triple Double himself, the real star of the show.
0:35.8	I mean, it's named after him. Connor, how are we doing today? Not the real star of the show. I'm doing well. Let's talk some hoops. The star of the show
0:42.7	is the women's basketball team, I think. At least it has been this season. They've been so much
0:47.6	fun to watch. And now they're advancing to the Sweet 16. We'll get to that in just a second. But first, for any first time, listeners, the USC Triple Double podcast is part of the Peristyle podcast family shows. The USC
0:57.3	Triple Double is a podcast focus on the Trojan men and women to Troy basketball programs.
1:01.8	Each week during the season, we break down all the latest action for both teams as well as look
1:05.1	forward to the upcoming matchups. We often have special guests join us to talk about the teams this week. We're a special guest. We're pleased to have USC women's basketball freshman Kaylee Heckel, K-9, if you will, set to join us a little later in the show.
1:17.3	But first, we've got to jump into the opening rounds, played at the Galen Center, super amped up.
1:24.4	I'm jealous of you guys.
1:25.6	You're getting to be in the arena.
1:26.7	I'm just of you guys. You're getting to be in the arena. I'm just watching on TV.
1:28.5	But then I wasn't so jealous.
1:31.2	Juju Watkins goes down with an injury. Connor, just first off, give me your thoughts from your
1:36.6	perspective where you were sitting. Did you know immediately that it was bad? And, you know,
1:41.7	what was your take on the situation as it kind of unfolded?
1:46.0	Just a devastating situation. So I was in the regular media area, not court side. So behind the
1:53.3	basket, not the one that Juju was attacking the other one. So I was a little further away,
1:58.9	but it was directly in front of me just further down
2:02.2	the court. And you knew it was a different situation right when she went down, yelped or shrieked,
2:09.6	whatever you want to, however you want to characterize it, grabbed the knee. But still,
	...

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