Paige Bueckers and UConn took down the Watkins-less Trojans 78-64 on Monday. Watkins was named the Player of the Year over Bueckers, Notre Dame's Hannah Hidalgo, and cross-town rival Lauren Betts of UCLA.

Madness is the most unique playoff system in college sports. While other sports use a bracket format, March Madness includes 68 teams competing in single-elimination games until only one team remains.

The last few weeks have been a series of major blows for USC, who saw JuJu Watkins go down with a torn ACL in the second round of the NCAA Tournament before being eliminated from the Big Dance in the Elite Eight by UConn for the second year in a row.

This affiliate content is not influenced by our advertising relationships, but AP and Data Skrive might earn commissions from our partners’ links in this content.

The UConn women’s basketball team is back in action tonight (March 31) when the second-seeded Huskies (34-3) meet No. 1 seed USC (31-3) in the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight at Spokane Arena in Spokane, Washington. The game will be broadcast on ESPN and Westwood One radio at 9 p.m.

The 6-foot-2 sophomore guard was named the Naismith Women’s College Basketball Player of the Year on Wednesday, becoming the first Trojan to earn the honor since Lisa Leslie in 1994. Before Leslie, Cheryl Miller was a three-time Naismith Award recipient.

The USC star's season was tragically cut short with a torn ACL in the NCAA tournament, but her excellence this season was recognized.

Paige Bueckers carried UConn to its record 24th Final Four of the women’s NCAA Tournament, scoring 31 points Monday night in a 78-64 victory over Southern California, which couldn’t overcome the loss of injured star JuJu Watkins.