Alright, maybe that headline was a little misleading.

USC women’s basketball (30-3, 16-1 Big Ten) is no longer in contention for the national championship after losing its best player.

The Trojans did prove, however, that the team can still put together a dominant effort even after sophomore guard JuJu Watkins suffered a season-ending injury in the Trojans’ 37-point victory over Mississippi State (22-12, 7-9 SEC). Head Coach Lindsay Gottlieb’s squad remains in the tournament and still has the opportunity to do some damage.

While USC was already leading by 11 points when Watkins went down with 4:43 left to go in the first quarter, the Trojans were still able to more than triple that lead before the end of the game. The Bulldogs came in as the No. 9 seed in the region, meaning No. 1-seeded USC might have been favored to win even without Watkins. 

But what the Trojans showed after Watkins suffered her injury — season-ending according to USC Athletics — proved that they have what it takes to win in the NCAA tournament.

“You never want anyone to go down, especially someone like JuJu that we all lean on in so many ways,” Gottlieb said in the postgame press conference. “But this team rallied. They rallied for her, they rallied for each other. Our fans had our back. I’m just really proud. And I think we showed what kind of team we are.”

Rally they did, as graduate forward Kiki Iriafen notched 36 points — a high for her in a Trojan uniform — and freshman guard Avery Howell added 18. Iriafen only eclipsed 30 points one other time this season, back in November, and this marks only Howell’s second time putting up over 15 points.

The Bulldogs are certainly not the cream of the crop in women’s college basketball — as evidenced by their losing record in conference play — but make no mistake, these two Trojans still put up season-best performances in an NCAA tournament game.

The stiffest tests are still to come for this USC squad, but people are quick to forget that the Trojans brought in three five-star freshmen between Howell, guard Kayleigh Heckel and guard Kennedy Smith.

“We have a pretty big role this year, which coach has let us have,” Howell said in the postgame press conference. “We’re prepared for most moments because of the time we’re given in games and how hard we work in practice.”

Objectively, the Trojans are a worse team without Watkins, but USC did not earn a No. 1 seed because of Watkins alone. Along with the strengths of the three freshmen and senior center Rayah Marshall, Iriafen is a former Power Forward of the Year award winner.

USC is preparing to take on Kansas State (28-7, 13-5 Big 12), a team that lost three of its last four games heading into the NCAA tournament by an average of 14.3 points per loss. The No. 5-seeded Wildcats did have a strong overtime win over Kentucky (23-8, 11-5 SEC) to advance to the Sweet 16, but this is still a team USC can beat without Watkins.

While it is certainly no guarantee the Trojans will beat the Wildcats, the real test would come in the Elite Eight. 

Likely waiting for USC in the Elite Eight is UConn (33-3, 18-0 Big East), assuming the Huskies can take down Oklahoma (27-7, 11-5 SEC) in the Sweet 16. While the Trojans already beat UConn earlier this season, Watkins was essential to that conquest, leading all scorers with 25 points as part of a 2-point victory.

The Trojans have the talent to make the Big Dance without Watkins, but likely would not have earned the No. 1 seed. The sophomore guard led or co-led USC in scoring for 25 of the team’s 32 games heading into the matchup with Mississippi State.

However, now that USC is here and rallying to win on their injured star’s behalf, the Trojans should not be counted out just yet. Sure, USC should now be considered unlikely to win or even make the national title game without the best player on their team and arguably in the entire country.

But the madness of March is here. With or without Watkins, do not be surprised if USC still wins a game or two up in Spokane.

Thomas Johnson is a senior writing about USC’s arrival to a new conference and all of the implications surrounding the entrance in his column, “Big Ten Bites,” which runs every other Wednesday.