JuJu Watkins’ return headlines UNLV’s season-opening matchup with No. 3 USC

The UNLV Lady Rebels will open the 2026-27 season Monday at 1 p.m. against No. 3 USC as part of the Hall of Fame Series at T-Mobile Arena. UNLV, coming off a 21-11 campaign, is chasing a sixth straight 20-win season under coach Lindy La Rocque, who has guided the program to three Mountain West titles.

The matchup centers on the return of JuJu Watkins, the 6-foot-2 Los Angeles native who missed all of last season after tearing her ACL in the 2025 NCAA Tournament. Before the injury, Watkins averaged 23.9 points, 6.8 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game while shooting 42.6 percent from the field. USC went 18-14 overall and 9-9 in Big Ten play without her, averaging 69.7 points per game after scoring 80.7 per game in her last healthy season.

La Rocque praised Watkins and a Trojans roster that has landed the nation's top recruit in three of the past four years. "She is such a terrific player," La Rocque said. "You can't do the same thing against her back-to-back possessions because she is just so good and, really, it is not just her. It is Jazzy Davidson, it is Saniyah Hall and a number of other players." Davidson led USC with 17.9 points per game as a freshman, while Hall scored 23 points in an exhibition win over Cal.

UNLV enters ranked seventh in the Mountain West in scoring defense (62.81 points per game) and third in field-goal percentage defense (38.9 percent). Forward Meadow Roland, the conference's preseason player of the year, made the all-defensive team last season. La Rocque said the Rebels will need to vary their defensive looks: "I think part of our game plan is that we're going to have to mix it up in individual matchups and what we are doing defensively because you really can't let them get comfortable."

Watkins, who made her collegiate debut at the same event in 2023, called the return "full circle." "I am just really grateful to be back on the floor again and I am ready to share the floor with my team again," she said. "Personally I love Vegas. I have been there a lot throughout my career here at USC, we have had a lot of tournaments there so it is really cool to see a lot of people come out."

Sources: Las Vegas Review-Journal