JuJu Watkins broke out of a scoring slump with 38 points, helping sixth-ranked USC topple No. 1 UCLA 71-60 and further delivering on her goal of restoring the program to its earlier glory.
Some of those Trojans stars from the early 1980s — including Hall of Famers Cheryl Miller and Tina Thompson — joined a raucous crowd as USC rallied for the program’s first win over a top-ranked team since 1983 on Thursday night.
“Gonna be one of those nights,” DJ Mal-Ski told the soldout crowd of 10,258 during pregame warmups.
It surely was.
After her sister Mali sang the national anthem, Watkins scored eight points in five minutes to start the game when the Trojans put the Bruins in an early hole.
“JuJu got hot off the bounce and she got in a rhythm,” UCLA coach Cori Close said.
Watkins had all of USC’s points in the second quarter when they were outscored 20-14. She stopped the Bruins’ 10-0 run…
