“JuJu Watkins Sparks Joy as No. 4 USC Aims to Revive Fire-Weary Los Angeles”

LOS ANGELES — JuJu Watkins alongside her Southern California women’s basketball teammates received some notable guests in the locker room on Sunday evening.

Cherie Nelson, who maintained the program’s scoring record for several years with a 50-point achievement, was among a number of Trojan alumni present at Galen Center. She brought along her 98-year-old mother, whose residence in nearby Altadena was devastated by the wildfires last week.

”She mentioned that she had been following our success and wished to meet JuJu and the team, but then her mom lost her home,” said Trojans coach Lindsay Gottlieb. ”Given those circumstances, it was uncertain whether they would attend, but her mother insisted, ‘No, I want to see the USC women’s team play.”’

They were part of an enthusiastic audience of 5,881, which included actress Vivica A. Fox and numerous children at one of the first sporting events held in Los Angeles after the wildfires erupted on Tuesday. The Los Angeles Lakers and Clippers are scheduled to resume their fixtures on Monday night after having postponed games on Saturday.

”I viewed it as a wonderful chance to enjoy ourselves,” Watkins stated. ”The atmosphere is quite low here in LA, so our aim was to put on a performance and entertain the crowd for a couple of hours.”

Watkins accumulated 35 points while Kiki Iriafen contributed 28 in USC’s fourth-ranked 95-73 win over Penn State.

Watkins, Iriafen, and Rayah Marshall hail from Los Angeles, while Kennedy Smith is from nearby Chino, and Clarice Akunwafo is from Inglewood.

”This week has been challenging for LA and me as well, just listening to the stories,” Watkins expressed. ”People I know have also been impacted. It’s really been weighing on our hearts.”