JuJu Watkins' injury shakes up NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament

The NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament was fortunate to have all four No. 1 seeds advance to the Sweet 16, but the event lost major star power with Monday's news that USC standout JuJu Watkins suffered a season-ending torn ACL in her right knee during the Trojans' win.

It's a tragic loss for Watkins, a sophomore All-American and the player who was perhaps best positioned to build on a massive following in taking former Iowa guard Caitlin Clark's spot as the star of women's college basketball. Watkins averaged 24.6 points per game this past season after setting an NCAA freshman scoring record a year ago.

Watkins' popularity off the court challenges her dominance on the court. She has 1.1 million followers on Instagram, which is double the combined following of the team accounts for the tournament's top four seeds in USC, UCLA, South Carolina and Texas. She was spotted in the stands talking with Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels during the opening weekend's games in Los Angeles, giving her a newfound reach with sports fans outside of women's basketball.

So the tournament now moves forward without its biggest draw, and the question is how the event can pull fans in without her. Can USC get to Tampa, the home of the Final Four, without Watkins? The Trojans are 30-3 and now will look to 6-foot-3 senior forward Kiki Iriafen, a graduate transfer from Stanford, to lead them on the court, averaging 18.6 points and a team-best 8.5 rebounds this season.

If the Trojans can't advance to the Final Four, it could clear a path for a mainstay of women's college basketball, the No. 2-seeded UConn Huskies, who boast one of the game's biggest names in senior point guard Paige Bueckers. UConn has won 11 national titles under coach Geno