2025 WNBA Draft prospects Kiki Iriafen and Paige Bueckers duel, with JuJu Watkins' scoring clinic
College basketball treated us to one of the best prospect matchups in quite some time. USC’s narrow win over UConn featured multiple future top-two picks and a slew of other future pros. Let’s discuss the individual prospect performances from this heavyweight fight.
Kiki Iriafen
Iriafen took the brunt of the shotmaking work, leading the team in field goal attempts and usage rate (29%). Her diverse arsenal of interior scoring tools popped, as Irifen scored in the mid-range and drove as a counter. It wasn’t Iriafen’s most efficient night, but she scored in timely moments and found teammates off of her drives.
Her defense felt as impressive as the offensive production. She only logged one steal but Iriafen constantly switches out onto the perimeter for USC, denying ball screen advantages and containing drives. At 6’3, Iriafen’s lateral quickness grants her more versatility than most bigs her height.
When UConn sent pressure, Iriafen took some ill-advised shots, electing to shoot in traffic instead of resetting the offense. Her growth as a passer will be critical to track as a counter to her scoring punch. We saw USC continue to work Iriafen and Watkins together which will be paramount for their success this season.
Regardless of her weaknesses as a pro prospect, Iriafen’s work on the glass, as a paint scorer and defender makes her an elite college player. Expanding her scoring game even further will help Iriafen cement herself as a top-three pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft.
Rayah Marshall
Marshall has had to adapt to a new, less-featured role with the arrival of Iriafen. This season, her usage rate is the lowest of her career, but her efficiency has reached a career-high. It was Marshall’s defense that shined brightest against UConn.
She switched out onto the perimeter against Paige Bueckers and altered shots at the rim with her explosion and size. Similarly to Iriafen, Marshall’s size at 6’4 paired with her mobility make her a potentially valuable defender at the next level.
Her shots weren’t falling tonight, but we saw some basic off-dribble scoring flashes and a nice high-low bucket from Iriafen. Developing chemistry between those two will help USC’s offense gel down the stretch. Marshall crashes the glass hard and sets excellent screens which opened up lanes for Watkins to score.
Without any standout offensive skill, Marshall may struggle to fit in on that end at the WNBA level. Her progression as a defensive player this season will help attract pro clubs needing interior help on both ends.
Juju Watkins
Watkins lifted her Trojans over Paige Bueckers, the presumed top pick in the 2027 WNBA draft. For a sophomore, she’s beyond advanced on the offensive end. Watkins scores with the ease of a 10-year veteran, muscling through defenders alongside her dizzying pace. She’s learning how to weaponize her scoring gravity as a passer, whipping passes out against pressure when UConn sold out to stop her.
She locked in on the defensive end, generating turnovers and nabbing stops against Bueckers and the rest of UConn’s guards. Her activity as an on and off-ball defender combined with her athletic tools provide significant defensive upside. That combination of offensive initiation and defensive stopping form an incredibly rare package. Watkins will almost certainly play herself into a top-two draft selection when she declares for the WNBA.
Paige Bueckers
The Trojans’ arsenal of rangy defenders gave Bueckers some atypical problems on the offensive end. She mustered her second least efficient outing of the season, her 46% true shooting representative of those struggles. Watkins defended Bueckers well, as she struggled to generate separation at times working downhill.
But Bueckers' worst games are excellent by the standards of most players. Her mid-range scoring was excellent, rising up off of her self-created drives and working off screens. Despite her scant assist total, Bueckers’s scoring gravity helped her generate quite a few easy looks the Huskies couldn’t convert.
Bueckers contributed without the ball as per usual, cutting off Sarah Strong for easy shots and foul-drawing opportunities. She’s also winning on the defensive end; Bueckers found timely stops on the ball late down the stretch.
Evaluators may look to this game as an example of Bueckers’ potential struggles in creating advantages against the highest-level athletes. That could determine her exact level of WNBA stardom. She’s still an elite player with loads of positive moments, leading the Huskies to a near win as their offensive engine.
Azzi Fudd
Fudd missed her previous three games dealing with a knee sprain and all of her minutes against USC came in the first half. Lower body injuries have limited her throughout her career, leading to Fudd missing entire seasons. She didn’t make any of her shots today but Fudd’s ball moving and defensive intensity helped her contribute.
Eventually, Fudd will have to string together longer stretches of good health and regain her shooting stroke. Even when she isn’t at full strength, Fudd’s defensive playmaking and connective playmaking pop. Those strengths bode well for her future as a complementary WNBA guard assuming she returns to top form as a shooter.
Sarah Strong
38 minutes, 22 points (8-15), 5 assists, 2 turnovers, 13 rebounds, 4 steals, 1 block
UConn’s freshman phenom was arguably the best player on the floor against USC, dominating in all facets of the game. She scored efficiently from all over the court, making 7 of her 9 2-point shots. Her touch helps Strong flip in hook shots and fadeaways with the ability to stretch out to three. She operated as an effective offensive up, firing passes to cutters and from the post. The Huskies played Strong at the center spot, widening the spacing and passing lanes for the offense.
Strong spent much of her time on defense checking Kiki Iriafen, helping to hold her under 50% of the floor. Her feel for the game pops on the defensive end, as Strong knows when to react and move to nab steals and make timely rotations.
At just 18 years old, Strong played like an obvious future star in her 12th college game. She won’t enter the WNBA for quite a while, but she’ll dominate college basketball for the moment.