Caitlin Clark’s teammate Aliyah Boston doesn’t hide her opinion of JuJu Watkins

JuJu Watkins’ statement performance for the USC Trojans against the UCLA Bruins has drawn praise from WNBA All-Star Aliyah Boston.

Last week saw the 19-year-old guard produce arguably the finest performance of her young career, with Watkins on hand to help USC produce a statement 71-60 win over their rivals UCLA, the No.1 ranked team in the country.

The Bruins had no answer for the USC star, who finished up the game at the Galen Center by dropping 38 points on UCLA. She also finished with 11 rebounds, five assists, eight blocks, and a steal, whilst also going six of nine on her three-point attempts.

So good was the performance, it was the first time this century across the NBA, WNBA and Division I, both men’s and women’s, that a player had registered a game with over 35 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, five blocks and five three-pointers according to OptaSTATS.

And Watkins’ stunning performance earned her praise from Indiana Fever star Boston, who is teammates with Caitlin Clark. Speaking on NBC Sports’ ‘On Her Turf’, Boston told Watkins exactly what she made of her performance, telling the USC guard she loved what she saw.

“Dude, eight blocks, congrats on the win, I need the tips, because eight blocks, as a guard,” Boston told Watkins, who then replied: “Listen, I’m just trying to be like you, that’s my goal.

“No, no, there’s no way,” replied Boston, who then added: “I am still shook. You played so good. I just want to let you know, that’s how you lead. That is how you lead. And I’m so happy, I love watching you hoop. I’ve been doing so many of your games. And I’m like, girl, you could come to the league [WNBA] right now. We’d take you.”

“I wish, I wish, I’m just grateful for my team,” said Watkins. “We really got the dub and we got it done tonight. It feels good.”

Boston added: “You deserve it, you deserve it. I just want to say, I know post game you talked about you might have been in a little slump. I don’t care. You come out every single night and you play like that because you’re going to be able to pick your poise every single time. And I’m gonna be sitting there watching saying ‘okay, okay girl.'”

And it wasn’t just Boston who was left stunned by Watkins’ performance against UCLA.

“Juju was otherworldly, it was one of the best performances I’ve seen,” USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb told NBC Sports following the win over the Bruins. “When she is playing as her full self, there is nothing she can’t do on a basketball court. I think we saw one of the great performances certainly of her career, maybe all-time in this building.