In Sunday night’s second-round matchup between No. 2-seed Stanford and No. 7-seed Iowa State, all eyes were on Cameron Brink and Audi Crooks. Brink is projected to be one of the top picks in April’s 2024 WNBA Draft, and Crooks, a freshman phenom at Iowa State, was coming off a historic 40-point (18-for-20 from the field) performance.
But when it was all said and done, Sunday night ended up being the Kiki Iriafen Show.
At the national level, Iriafen has somewhat flown under the radar this season. But with a spot in the Sweet 16 on the line, she was sensational. The 6-foot-3 junior finished with a career-high 41 points to go along with 16 rebounds, four assists and three blocks—all while playing tenacious defense on Crooks, who was held to just 10 points on 3-for-21 shooting.
Cameron Brink, a nominee for Naismith Player of the Year, fouled out in regulation and finished with just eight points on the night—her lowest output since January. So, it was Iriafen’s time to shine, or else Stanford would suffer an early tournament exit for the second-consecutive year. The Cardinal ended up winning 87-81 in overtime, largely thanks to Iriafen’s performance in the extra period, when she scored 11 points. Postgame, Iriafen said:
If you want it that bad, nothing will faze…
