USCs JuJu Watkins has to prove it against Notre Dames guards in first great game of womens college basketball season

The No.6 Notre Dame women’s basketball team (4-0) has breezed through the first 2 ½ weeks of the season, annihilating opponents by an average of 47.5 points.It’s hard to know what’s more impressive about the Fighting Irish.

Is it their offensive dominance? Or perhaps their stifling defense that’s kept opposing teams to 31.2% shooting? Then again, the early returns on Notre Dame’s season are inflated, considering the Fighting Irish haven’t faced much of a challenge in four tuneup games.But the slow ramp-up for their season is over, and the real competition is set to begin when Niele Ivey’s team travels to Los Angeles to take on No.

3 USC (4-0) on Saturday (4 p.m.ET, NBC). “We’re really excited,“ Niele Ivey told reporters this week.

“The fact that we get to be on this big stage, it’s just an incredible matchup.They have some of the biggest names out in women’s basketball right now.”Ivey is referring to USC sophomore standout JuJu Watkins and potential 2025 WNBA lottery pick Kiki Iriafen. Watkins was a basketball big shot even before she stepped on the court last season for the Trojans.

But her remarkable first-year campaign — during which she set a single-season record for a freshman by scoring 920 points – only elevated her stature.This season, Watkins is averaging 21.5 points, 6.3 rebounds, 4.8 assists, 3.8 steals and 3.0 blocks in four games.Iriafen, a transfer from Stanford, has posted 17.3 points to go with her team-high 7.5 rebounds per game. But make no mistake about it: Notre Dame has a few stars of its own, too, which adds to the intrigue of this early-season showdown of two possible Final Four teams. It helps that point guard Olivia Miles, another potential 2025 lottery pick, returned to the Fighting Irish’s lineup after missing all of last season because of a knee injury.

Miles’ elite passing abilities and improving 3-point shooting make up just one half of what could be the most dynamic backcourt in college ba...