USC women's basketball superstar JuJu Watkins was all smiles after the Trojans' 67-61 Sweet 16 victory over Kansas State. It has been an emotional week for one of this sports' brightest stars. Watkins tore her ACL in the second round against Mississippi State and has a long road to recovery ahead of her. While the two-time, unanimous first-team All-American is now out for the season, the Trojans rallied on Saturday to reach their second straight Elite Eight. Just like last year, this group will face UConn for a chance to go to the Final Four.

It took a total group effort to clinch this inspirational victory for its injured superstar. And ESPN women's basketball reporter Kendra Andrews revealed over Twitter Watkins' reaction to this result. “JuJu Watkins FaceTimed the team just now in the locker room where she was yelling and cheering through the phone and told her team how proud of them she is, Kiki Iriafen just told me. JuJu sent her team a ‘thoughtful' text pregame and then hosted a watch party at her apartment.”

Head coach Lindsay Gottlieb is in her fourth year in Southern California and has completely rebuilt this historic program's culture. Before Gottlieb's arrival, the Trojans had only been to the NCAA Tournament three times this century and had last made the second weekend in 1994. Now, the program is in a second-straight Elite Eight and looks to be resembling those great teams of the 1980s. The face of this revival has been JuJu Waktins, which makes her injury all the more heartbreaking. Nevertheless, in their star guard's absence, others have stepped up.

On Saturday, freshman guards Kennedy Smith and Avery Howell led the team with 19 and 18 points to seal this win over the fifth-seeded Wildcats. And to pull the upset over the second-seeded Huskies, it will have to be a full team effort with multiple, unexpected players rising to the occasion.

Overall, no matter what happens in two days, USC women's basketball can hold its head high after this Sweet 16 win. It would have been very easy for this group to call it quits and give up without JuJu Watkins, but the Trojans showed their resiliance on Saturday and now get a chance to right a wrong from last season. It's a tall task for Lindsay Gottlieb's team to pull off what would be a monumental upset, but this collection of players should never be underestimated.