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JuJu Watkins breaks Lisa Leslie record 6 games into her USC career

LOS ANGELES, CA - NOVEMBER 28: USC Trojans guard JuJu Watkins (12) goes up for a shot during the women's college basketball game between the Cal Poly Mustangs and the USC Trojans on November 28, 2023 at Galen Center in Los Angeles, CA. (Photo by Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
JuJu Watkins has been unstoppable in her first six games at USC. (Photo by Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

JuJu Watkins entered USC with enormous expectations. She is shattering them.

The unanimous No. 1 overall recruit of the Class of 2023 posted the fourth 30-point game of her college career in an 85-44 win over Cal Poly on Tuesday, finishing the game with 30 points on 10-of-19 shooting (4 of 7 from 3-point range) with four rebounds, four assists, five steals and two blocks.

With those four games, Watkins passed WNBA Hall of Famer Lisa Leslie for the most 30-point games by a USC freshman in program history. It is at this point we should note Watkins has played six games total in college.

Any day a USC player breaks a Leslie record has to be a pretty good day:

Now averaging 26.8 points per game, the 6-foot-2 Watkins sits behind only reigning Wooden Award winner Caitlin Clark (29.6 points per game) for the national scoring lead. In three weeks of play, she has won the Pac-12's Freshman of the Week award three times, and is obviously now on track for a fourth straight.

With Watkins' boost, the 6-0 Trojans are currently ranked No. 6 in the AP poll, the program's best ranking in 29 years. The last time they were this high was 1994, which was Leslie's senior year.

Watkins, a Los Angeles native and Sierra Canyon alum who stayed home, opened her career with 32 points in an 83-74 win over then-No. 7 Ohio State. It will be a while before she gets her next big stage, with four games against unranked nonconference teams in the next month, but the payoff will be big on Dec. 30, when USC faces No. 2 UCLA, followed by games against No. 12 Utah and No. 7 Colorado.