The Athletic has live coverage of women’s March Madness and every Sweet 16 matchup
PORTLAND, Ore. — After Kiki Iriafen scored 41 points on his Cyclones in the second round, Iowa State coach Bill Fennelly couldn’t help but express some surprise about the Stanford junior’s performance.
“She’s one of those kids that in person was much better than on video,” Fennelly said. “Just a tremendous talent.”
The Cardinal’s first-round opponent, Norfolk State, was similarly blown away by how much better Iriafen was than expected.
“I have every channel, Fios, Verizon. And we don’t have Pac-12 Network,” Spartans head coach Larry Vickers said. “I had no clue how about and how much better Kiki got. … I couldn’t believe, as somebody who follows everything and watches as much college basketball as I possibly can, that I had no clue that she was that good.”
Playing on the Pac-12 Network, often on Friday nights, has caused Iriafen to be slept on. But after one of the most dominating NCAA Tournament performances in recent memory, the country is waking up to the latest in a long line of outstanding Stanford post players. She’ll be on a major stage (the Sweet 16) and on a major network (ESPN) when the second-seeded Cardinal face third-seeded NC State on Friday night.
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