CBS Sports star Lisa Byington is a trendsetting broadcaster but Sunday’s USC-UCLA showdown led to an unfortunate error.
Byington was on the call as JuJu Watkins’ No.1 Trojans lost to the No. 2 Bruins in an epic Big Ten Championship game.

Watkins is a rising star in college basketball[/caption]
She attempted to praise Watkins’ incredible season but the choice of words in a city recently ravaged by wildfires was poor to say the least.
“JuJu Watkins has caught the women’s basketball world by storm,” Byington said. “Certainly lit the world of Los Angeles on fire.”
The USC and UCLA campuses were both affected by the fires in January, which led to at least 29 deaths and saw over 150,000 people displaced.
Byington clearly didn’t intend to cause any controversy but viewers shared their frustration with the 48-year-old’s faux pas on social media.
“Oh my,” one posted on X.
“That is a bad choice of words,” added another.
“I heard that and cringed,” a third wrote.
Byington was the first female play-by-play voice of March Madness and also the first to cover a major professional sports team with the Milwaukee Bucks in 2021.
Watkins needed just eight points to surpass Caitlin Clark‘s 1,662 points across her freshman and sophomore seasons.
The 19-year-old managed 40 points in a 72-67 defeat but is still shy of Kelsey Mitchell’s NCAA record of 1,762 points through two seasons.
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Clark spent four years at Iowa and left with 3,667 points — a record for any college hooper male or female.
USC was ahead by double digits in the third quarter only to be on the end of a comeback upset.
The Bruins’ defense held Watkins to just 11 points on 15 shots over the final 20 minutes.
Lauren Betts had 17 points, five rebounds, and four blocks for UCLA.
“I don’t think you guys understand, I’m so freaking proud of this team,” Betts said. “We earned that game. We earned it.
“We worked our butts off. We stayed together. We learned. We could have given up after we lost to them back-to-back. We lost that regular season [title], and we just weren’t done. That wasn’t enough.
“We would not be denied this game and I’m so freaking proud of everybody. We all came out to compete.”
Watkins and USC must now rally ahead of the NCAA Tournament as the country gets ready for March Madness.
Analyst Robin Lundberg revealed just what makes the 6-foot-2 star so special in a YouTube video on Sunday.
“A big reason JuJu Watkins is the prospect she is, is due to her size — no question about it,” Lundberg said. “When JuJu is coming downhill, that’s tough to deal with. You’ve got to be on your heels, you’ve got to brace for impact. If JuJu is fighting you for a rebound, it’s going to be a battle.
“All of these things are part of her game … and how she’s growing. She can get even better if she’s able to leverage that as a playmaker.
“With all that attention she’s drawing, people aren’t always ready for her. Sometimes, it’s just a quick kick-out to the perimeter for a three, and it can be a bucket.”