Giovanni Fanta
College basketball broadcaster and reporter
Saturday night time has every thing to remind you of the continued rise of girls’s faculty basketball: No. 4 UConn vs. no. 7 USC. Primetime at 8pm ET on FOX. A offered out XL heart in Hartford, Connecticut.
It’s a recreation between two nice groups, two nice coaches and sure, two nice celebrity gamers.
Paige Bueckers vs. JuJu Watkins.
It’s a rematch of final yr’s Elite Eight conflict that noticed the Huskies prevail over the top-seeded Trojans and advance to the Final Four. Watkins scored 29 factors in that recreation, whereas Bueckers stuffed the stat sheet with 28 factors, 10 rebounds and 6 assists.
Starting a house sequence with these two large names and the celebrity energy they possess was a no brainer for Hall of Famer Geno Auriemma and USC head coach Lindsay Gottlieb. With the return recreation happening in Los Angeles subsequent season, the lights will shine in Hartford on Saturday night time.
Both the Huskies and Trojans are off to a 10-1 begin to the season. Bueckers, who’s in her fifth season with this system after a profession that has seen her battle quite a few accidents, is averaging 20.6 factors, 4.6 rebounds and 4.0 assists whereas taking pictures an eye-popping 58% from flooring and 44% from 3-point vary. Earth. The query is, how nicely can the Huskies outperform the Bueckers? Auriemma advised reporters Friday that senior star Azzi Fudd, who has missed the final three video games with a gentle knee sprain, might play Saturday, which might be an enormous enhance for the Huskies.
As for Watkins, who final yr set the all-time NCAA freshman document with 920 factors en path to profitable nationwide freshman of the yr honors, his totals could also be barely decrease this season, nevertheless it got here with a rise in effectivity. The 6-foot-1 guard from Los Angeles is averaging 24.7 factors, 5.8 rebounds and three.7 assists per recreation whereas taking pictures 45 p.c from the ground (up from 40 p.c) and 34 p.c from past the arc. arc (in comparison with 32%).
Watkins has the good thing about enjoying alongside one other celebrity in Stanford switch Kiki Iriafen, who’s averaging 18.7 factors and 9.2 rebounds per recreation whereas taking pictures 54 p.c from the sphere and 40 p.c from downtown. The matchup between Iriafen and UConn freshman standout Sarah Strong (17.3 PPG, 8.3 RPG, 3.6 APG) is probably not the primary headliner with Watkins assembly Bueckers, nevertheless it might find yourself deciding the sport if the 2 superstars canceled one another out.
FOX Sports caught up with Watkins forward of Saturday’s top-10 showdown on FOX.
How excited are you to play in primetime Saturday night time in a sold-out constructing in opposition to Paige Bueckers and UConn?
“I’m so excited. To get a high 10 meet, it is all the time a terrific alternative. And for us to essentially showcase what we have been engaged on and our progress for the reason that starting of the season, we’re actually excited and also you simply know it’ll be nice.”
How a lot did final yr’s Elite Eight loss to UConn push you and your staff and what’s your mindset going into this recreation?
“I’d say we’re a very totally different staff than final yr, so I would not say that was the most important motivation for us to get higher, however I’d say for me and for a number of the returning gamers, there’s a side of taking issues on the private. They ended our season final yr, so clearly it is in our nature to make that one of many causes we go on the market to play so onerous.”
You have a worldwide attain along with your movie star on and off the sphere, and what we’re seeing proper now in ladies’s sports activities is really a motion. What does it imply to be a shining gentle to the women who look as much as you?
“It’s a terrific factor and I’m so blissful to be on this place. I can not even think about being like this for younger ladies. So, I’m all the time grateful for the platform I’ve been given, and I wish to encourage others to be if themselves.”
How particular is the second in ladies’s basketball?
“It’s actually particular. The statistics present that there is been a lot consideration to this sport and girls’s sports activities generally. I’m so blissful to be a part of that motion, nevertheless it’s additionally about paying homage. It’s about paying homage to the ladies who got here earlier than us, so many, who made our sport what it’s immediately. I’m so grateful for that and to be on this house proper right here, proper now.”
What is the identification of this USC staff and the way have you ever advanced probably the most as a participant?
“It’s onerous to say it in a single phrase, however I’d say that everybody on our staff is tremendous succesful. Now, it is only a matter of coming collectively and understanding everybody’s strengths to collectively get higher. But on the finish of the day, everybody on this program has the identical aim: win no matter we have to do to ensure that occurs at USC, we’ll do it.”
How would you outline Coach Gottlieb?
“Smart. She’s tremendous sensible. And she’s been an actual mentor to me each on and off the court docket. She’s a terrific determine to have in your life.”
Your favourite Christmas music?
“Last Christmas by WHAM! This is my favourite.”
John Fanta is a nationwide faculty basketball broadcaster and author for FOX Sports. He covers sports activities in a wide range of roles, from calling video games on FS1 to serving as a lead anchor on the BIG EAST digital community to offering commentary on The Field of 68 Media Network. Follow him to @John_Fanta.
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