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Monday night was supposed to be a chance for the home crowd to celebrate the (1) USC Trojans, as they were heavily favored against (9) Mississippi State. However, four minutes into the game, disaster struck when JuJu Watkins fell to the floor in agony after being fouled in transition, and the mood shifted dramatically inside the Galen Center. 

Watkins was carried off of the floor with what was later reported to be a torn ACL, and while it seemed to just be an unfortunate injury, the emotions of seeing their star player injured had the USC crowd and bench upset, and Mississippi State became the outlet for them. The crowd booed loudly every time Mississippi State had the ball and the injury seemed to galvanize the Trojans as they jumped out to a 28-8 lead after the first quarter, with Kiki Iriafen stepping into the starring role. 

The game remained physical and tense throughout despite it being a blowout. USC's Malia Samuels hit the floor hard after a foul at the rim, leading coach Lindsay Gottlieb to glare over at the Bulldog bench after going out to check on her. At the end of USC's 96-59 win, the two teams met in the customary handshake line and some players had to be separated after exchanging words. 

It was pretty clear USC felt Mississippi State's physicality crossed a line, while the Bulldogs would defend it as hard-nosed basketball. It's hard to blame the Trojans for being upset given they saw their best player suffer a season-ending injury, and because it happened on a foul, Mississippi State became the target of their anger and frustration. 

"We don't play to hurt, we play to compete and that's just an unfortunate situation. There was no harm, and I hope us as a society, I know social media can be ugly, that you understand that the other lady that was involved that's on my team is a woman of class," Mississippi State coach Sam Purcell said after the game. "She's comes from a family too of loving parents, I'm sure she is remorseful and obviously didn't want to have that happen. I hope that we understand as a society that it was a thoughtful apology and don't take it further than it needs to. On behalf of the Bulldogs, again, we're praying for her recovery because she's the ultimate competitor and we want to see her back on that court."