The NCAA women’s basketball tournament came to a close earlier this week when South Carolina took down Iowa in the national title game. This tournament featured some of the best and most-watched women’s college basketball games of all time, and one those games was between UConn women’s basketball and USC women’s basketball. JuJu Watkins and Paige Bueckers battled it out on the big stage, and the Huskies ended up narrowly winning. It was a great matchup.
Paige Bueckers and JuJu Watkins are two of the best players in women’s college basketball right now, and it was a treat getting to see them go up against each other when UConn played USC women’s basketball. Bueckers finished the game with 28 points and Watkins finished with 29. UConn went on to win the game 80-73 to punch their ticket to the Final Four.
After the game, Bueckers and Watkins shared an interaction on the court. It was unclear what was said between the two stars, but Watkins recently revealed what Bueckers said to her during an appearance on Paul George’s podcast, Podcast P.
“I’m not even going to lie, I was just so emotional at the end of it but, I think just like ‘keep going,'” JuJu Watkins said. “Paige is a great player, and I’m so happy that I got the chance to experience that bump because it’s just great for the game, it grows the game. And I mean I grew up watching her in high school and just to see how far she’s come and just how much she’s been through, and still going out on top. So I’m just happy for her and she just had some encouraging words for me.”
That game between UConn and USC was on the same night as the LSU-Iowa game. Watkins is right, these matchups are really growing the game. All eyes were on the women’s college basketball world for those two incredible games.
Paige Bueckers and JuJu Watkins could meet again next season
Both of these stars were among the top players in women’s college basketball last season, and they will both be back next season, so there is a chance that we could see them meet up again. Both the Huskies and the Trojans are expected to be very good next year, and seeing Bueckers match up with Watkins again in the NCAA Tournament would be awesome.
There are a lot of top players heading to the pros like Caitlin Clark, but with JuJu Watkins staying with the USC women’s basketball team and Paige Bueckers staying at UConn, there will be no shortage of talent in the game next season.
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