For the second straight NCAA Tournament, the Stanford Cardinal faced a fourth-quarter deficit on its home court in the second round, staring at the possibility of a stunning upset.
As Pac-12 Player of the Year Cameron Brink spent most of the night in foul trouble against No. 7 Iowa State, the No. 2 Cardinal turned to their other twin tower to carry them home. After being limited to five scoreless minutes off the bench in a 2023 loss to Ole Miss, Kiki Iriafen scored 41 points, tied for ninth all-time in a single NCAA Tournament game, and added 16 rebounds and four assists, leading Stanford to 87. -81 overtime win. The Cardinal advanced to the Sweet 16 to face the winner of No. 3 NC State vs. No. 6 Tennessee.
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There was nothing Iriafen couldn’t do. The conference’s most improved player scored in every way against the Audi Crooks and the No. 7 Cyclones. He was punching jumpers. She tackled from a distance and passed to her defender. Posted and completed via communication. Iriafen was also huge on defense, forcing first-round favorite Audi Crooks to 3-of-21 shooting as Iowa State shot a collective 12-of-27 on layups.
Stanford needed everything from Iriafen in a game that hung in the balance for 45 minutes. Neither team led by more than two possessions after the first quarter. There were 12 ties and 18 lead changes and Iowa State was up 1 with 31 seconds to play before a cool 3-pointer by Brooke Demetre proved decisive. Demetre collected the rebound after Addy Brown missed the potential tying bucket on the ensuing possession, and the Cardinal — and the nervous home crowd at Maples Pavilion — could finally breathe.
In what was supposed to be an instant classic, Iowa State struck first. The Cyclones went up by seven in the first quarter thanks to hot shooting from beyond the arc and solid playmaking by senior guard Emily Ryan, who hit three 3-pointers of her own. Stanford put on the clamps in the second quarter and wrung enough offense from Iriafen and shooting guard Hannah Jump to pull within two, setting up a barn burner of a second half.
Ryan was dazzling off the dribble and with her stepback jumper, totaling a career-high 36 points, though her 10 turnovers gave the Cardinal extra chances. While Crooks was bottled up by Iriafen and Brink, fellow freshmen Brown and Jalynn Bristow were unfazed, scoring 25 points, including 10 in overtime.
Stanford found enough out of Iriafen’s production. Brink had five blocks in 22 minutes and added eight points and eight rebounds. The jump shot was the focus of many Iowa State schemes — the Cyclones even had a box-and-one on the senior with one possession — but she pounced on every defensive miscue to score 15. Nunu Agara was tasked with defending Ryan and she was responsible for several of those 10 turnovers. And Demetre made the clutch buckets, the only 3-pointers she’s ever made in the NCAA Tournament outside of garbage time.
Even with the game of Iriafen’s life, the Cardinal did not avoid a huge upset. Two straight years of bowing out on their home court — after being upset in the conference tournament each season — would cast doubt on Stanford’s toughness.
Instead, coach Tara VanDerveer and her staff were able to push the right buttons to get Iriafen going and optimize their bench. Terrible shooting from both sides prevented either team from building a significant lead, but the major advantage for the Cardinal was when they had to execute offensively, they could.
Neither team deserved to lose, but Stanford was a worthy winner behind Iriafen. The VanDerveer player barely found minutes a year ago and found herself in the national spotlight with one of the best tournament performances in recent memory and kept her team dancing.
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(Photo: Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
