The women's basketball scene was shaken up with two massive upsets. In this week's WBB Wraparound, we're looking at the games that were, the games that are and the players to watch.
Going into No. 4 USC's game against UCLA, the then-No. 1 Bruins were the favorite.
They were undefeated, arguably deeper than USC and had Lauren Betts playing a National Player of the Year-level season. Yet, USC was not about to let them win on the Trojans home court.
Juju Watkins plays incredible game against UCLA
It was a Juju Watkins stat line of 38 points, 11 rebounds, five assists, one steal and eight (yes eight) blocks that led USC to a 71-60 win. That volume of blocks from a guard is unheard of, but the fact that most of them were against the taller Betts? Watkins is continuing to cement her legacy in women's basketball.
These two teams will play again on Mar. 1, and it will be interesting to see how now-No. 3 UCLA comes back from the loss. It's always intriguing how teams game plan against a team they played recently, but the Battle of LA Part 2 will be especially intriguing.
UConn stuns South Carolina
Right when fans thought they had seen the most stunning upset of the week, No. 5 UConn had other plans.
In a game against South Carolina, in South Carolina, UConn achieved a wire-to-wire 87-58 win over the now-No. 6 Gamecocks. It was the end to South Carolina's 71-game home court winning streak, and worst home loss the program has suffered since December 2008, per Her Hoop Stats' Andy Tulin. Interesting enough, both that 2009 29-point loss, their other 29-point loss in 2018, and this weekend's 29-point loss were all against the UConn Huskies.
UConn played strong and affective defense in the game, and were led by Azzi Fudd's 28 points, five rebounds, two assists and six 3-pointers made — outscoring South Carolina's entire starting lineup. Sarah Strong also had 16 points, 13 rebounds, four assists, two steals and one block. It was the performance UConn had been waiting for all season, and an out of character performance from the usually perfect Gamecocks.
Mikayla Blakes scored 55 points for Vanderbilt
Meanwhile, Mikayla Blakes continues to have a phenomenal freshman campaign at Vanderbilt. Blakes broke the DI freshman scoring record a few weeks ago when she scored 53 points against Florida, and then managed to break her own record two weeks later.
Blakes scored 55 points in an overtime win against Auburn on Sunday, helping her team tie up the game late in the fourth quarter and then blitzing Auburn to win by 10 points in extra time. Blakes added five assists and three steals to her stat line, shooting 15-28 (53.6 percent) from the field. She is averaging 23.0 points, 3.4 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 2.5 steals per game on the season, playing over 30 minutes per game.
Games to watch this week
No. 15 Tennessee vs No.18 Alabama — Thursday Feb. 20 — 8:30 p.m.
This game is intriguing given Tennessee's trajectory as of late. They won in an upset against UConn at the beginning of February, but have lost against LSU, South Carolina, Texas, Vanderbilt and Oklahoma. Then they beat Ole Miss, after which Ole Miss coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin said that Tennessee has the potential to win some upset games in the postseason.
As we head closer to conference tournament and March Madness territory, a win over No. 18 Alabama could do great things for Tennessee's seeding implications and motivation.
No. 6 South Carolina vs Vanderbilt — Sunday Feb. 23 — 3:00 p.m.
If you've been reading these and wanting to catch a Vanderbilt game, this would be a great one to watch. After losing to UConn, SC will play against Arkansas before seeing Vanderbilt on the weekend, but the post-loss Gamecocks will still be motivated by Sunday.
Vanderbilt on the other hand has one of the most talented young duos in the country in Mikayla Blakes and Khamil Pierre, who will do everything in their power to get a win like one over South Carolina. It will be a really fun game with a lot of talent on the floor
Player to Watch: Juju Watkins, USC
Not that Juju is not getting the attention she deserves as one of the best players in the country, but there is reason for this pick. Watkins had a career-defining game against UCLA last week. She will play them again in just a week's time. A scoreline that would be once in a lifetime for anyone else could just be the Juju special but we don't have enough data to say that 100 percent yet.
Seeing how Watkins goes into this week, but especially the UCLA rematch will be really interesting. How does she follow up a once in a lifetime kind of game? Are those number something we should learn to expect from LA's youngest superstar?
Watkins is the key to USC's success, as well. They have not performed as well as hoped this season despite having the duo of Watkins and Kiki Iriafen, along with a wicked freshman class filled with talent. They stlll have the potential to not only win the BIg 10, but the national championship as well, but it honestly depends on Watkins. That's SO much pressure to put on one sophomore.
Can that level of on-court responsibility be sustained long-term, or are USC putting too much of the load onto Juju Watkins?