During Monday's Elite Eight matchup against UConn, USC guard JuJu Watkins broke the women's Division I single-season freshman scoring record.
Watkins has been outstanding for the Trojans this season, emerging as one of the top players in college basketball at just 18 years old. Let's take a look at the sensational freshman scorers she beat out to capture this record.
JuJu Watkins, USC | 920 points | 2023-24
Watkins averaged 27 points per game this season while shooting 40.2% from the field, 31.9% from 3-point range and 84.7% from the free throw line. Her highest-scoring game was a 51-point effort in a win over Stanford. She scored 30 or more points in 13 games.
Tina Hutchinson, SDSU | 898 points | 1983-84
Hutchinson dominated in her first year at San Diego State, leading the Aztecs to their first NCAA tournament while averaging 29.9 points (a freshman record), 10 rebounds and 6.2 steals per game. Unfortunately, she suffered a major knee injury as a sophomore and left SDSU, but she eventually played professionally overseas.
Kelsey Mitchell, OSU | 873 points | 2014-15
Mitchell hit the ground running at Ohio State, averaging 24.9 points per game while shooting 41.5% from the field, 37.8% from 3 and 83.5% from the free throw line. She became the fastest player in NCAA history to score 2,000 career points, needing just 79 games. However, a few years later, Caitlin Clark would need just 75 games to join the 2,000-point club.
Chennedy Carter, Texas A&M | 816 points, 2017-18
As a freshman at Texas A&M, Carter averaged 22.7 points while shooting 44.3% from the field, 38.3% from 3 and 79.1% from the free throw line. She was named the USBWA National Freshman of the Year and WBCA Freshman of the Year.
Caitlin Clark, Iowa | 799 points | 2020-21
Clark averaged an efficient 26.6 points per game as a freshman, shooting 47.2% from the field, 40.6% from 3 and 85.8% from the free throw line. She became the first freshman to win the Dawn Staley Award, and she shared the Tamika Catchings Award and WBCA Freshman of the Year Award with UConn's Paige Bueckers. Despite being a first-year player, Clark led the nation in scoring. Check out this complete list of Clark's records and accolades.
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