STANFORD, Calif.: Nunu Agara jumped into the open arms of teammate Kiki Iriafen because the celebration started and everybody might lastly exhale.
The area was rocking and Stanford had simply survived on its house courtroom to advance to the Portland Regional.
How becoming Iriafen ended the night time carrying Agara after the do-it-all Stanford star carried the Cardinal all recreation to succeed in the Sweet Sixteen once more following final 12 months’s heartbreaking loss at house in Maples Pavilion.
Iriafen’s sensational stat line: a career-high 41 factors capturing 16 for 30, 16 rebounds, 4 assists, three blocked pictures, a steal and 9 of 9 made free throws whereas enjoying almost 41 minutes.
She left her coach in absolute awe.
“Kiki, my hat’s off to you how hard you played, you’re an absolute warrior,” coach Tara VanDerveer instructed the 6-foot-3 junior ahead whereas praising her protection on standout Iowa State freshman Audi Crooks. “That was an awesome, awesome performance.”
No. 2 Stanford (30-5) will tackle third-seeded NC State (29-6) on Friday in Portland, Oregon, after holding on for a riveting 87-81 extra time victory over Iowa State.
Iriafen joined former Stanford star Jayne Appel as the one Division I gamers to file 41 factors and 16 rebounds in an NCAA Tournament recreation during the last 25 years. Appel had 46 factors and 16 boards agaisnt the Cyclones on March 30, 2009.
Iriafen scored 11 of her factors within the additional interval.
“I think if you want it that bad, nothing will faze you. I wanted it really badly so I didn’t let any fatigue get into my head,” Iriafen mentioned. “It’s all very mental. I was like, just five more minutes, if I can give myself five more minutes and help my teammates out. It was probably just adrenaline taking over.”
There have been instances when VanDerveer challenged Iriafen to be extra affected person and let the sport come to her. On Sunday night time, not a lot wanted saying. Iriafen beat the Cyclones off the dribble for layups and he or she pulled up from the paint for leap pictures, routinely answering a attainable momentum swing by Iowa State.
“Every time we tried to do something she countered it with a strong move or something different,” mentioned Cyclones guard Emily Ryan, who had a superb night time herself with 36 factors.
After the sport, former Stanford star Chiney Ogwumike shared her personal particular story about Iriafen on social media.
“I’ll never forget after a workout a few years ago, my trainer asked me to stay and meet this high schooler who he believed was next up at Stanford,” Ogwumike wrote. “She ended our workout with a dunk. It was Kiki Iriafen. Tonight she had 41 points and 16 rebs.”
The Pac-12 Most Improved Player from Los Angeles who earned Associated Press All-America honorable point out recognition, Iriafen spent final offseason remodeling herself to make her recreation much less one-dimensional.
Iriafen turned herself right into a menace at any spot on the ground, tirelessly creating her mid-range jumper — and people pictures discovered the online all night time lengthy.
“I think it’s been the whole summer honestly. People know me for being a driver, so when people started taking that away and taking charges, I had to kind of buy in to my jump shot a little bit. I think I love it a little bit too much now,” she mentioned, grinning. “That is something that I just honed in on that and not being very predictable.”
There are loads of video games when Iriafen takes a again seat to Cameron Brink, and neither one minds. On Sunday, Brink — the nation’s chief in blocked pictures — grew to become the one cheering and inspiring Iriafen from the bench due to foul bother.
Iriafen crossed her fingers to point out how shut she and Brink are supporting the opposite.
“So we pick each other up. When I’m in foul trouble she takes over and vice versa. I don’t think there is any pressure for either of us,” Iriafen mentioned. “We just know we have to pick up for the other person.”
Stanford’s motto this season has been “best year ever” — and no one desires this run to finish any time quickly.
In truth, Iriafen felt additional motivation to ship for seniors Brink and Hannah Jump after the stunning early exit final March by the hands of Mississippi.
“We didn’t want that to happen two years in a row. Also for our seniors, for Cameron, Hannah, we didn’t want this to be our last game,” Iriafen mentioned. “We wanted to get to Portland. This is not the end of our season. We wanted to make it to Cleveland. So just giving it my all to make sure we can get to Cleveland was something that was in my mind.”
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AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-womens-bracket/ and protection: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness
(This story has not been edited by News18 workers and is printed from a syndicated information company feed – Associated Press)
