HARTFORD, Conn. — JuJu Watkins scored 25 points and No. 7 USC recovered from blowing an 18-point lead in the second half to beat Paige Bueckers and fourth-ranked UConn 72-70 on Saturday night.
The game was a rematch of last season’s Elite Eight contest that the Huskies won and featured two of the best players in women’s college basketball with All-Americans Bueckers and Watkins. The pair guarded each other for most of the game.
For Watkins, it was her fourth career 25-point game in six matchups against AP top-five teams. No other player has more than two such games over the past two seasons.
Bueckers, meanwhile, finished with 22 points.
With the game tied at 67, Watkins passed the ball to Rayah Marshall for a layup with 1:21 left to give USC the lead.
After a miss by the Huskies, Watkins was fouled with 31 seconds left. She missed the first of two free throws as the ball sat on the rim for a few seconds before falling off. She made the second to give the Trojans (11-1) a 70-67 advantage.
UConn (10-2), which trailed 51-33 in the third quarter before rallying, answered with a basket by Sarah Strong to get within one point, four seconds later.
Watkins then hit two free throws with 19.5 seconds left to make it 72-69.
The Huskies had one…
