Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer left speechless after Kiki Iriafen's career game in win over Iowa State

Kevin Borba | Mar 25, 2024

NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament - Second Round - Stanford / Thearon W. Henderson/GettyImages

Just one season after they found themselves being sent home in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, the No. 2-seed Stanford Cardinal were on the ropes again on Sunday.

Iowa State was able to go shot-for-shot with Stanford, and had even gotten Pac-12 Player of the Year Cameron Brink to foul out. However, even with Brink having a very quiet night, Stanford was doing just fine relying on Kiki Iriafen who finished the game with a career-high 41 points and 16 rebounds along with three blocks. The game eventually went to overtime thanks to a couple of Brook Demetre threes, but it seemed whenever the Cyclones came up with a potential dagger, it was Iriafen there to answer with a smooth mid-range jumper.

After the 87-81 victory, head coach Tara VanDerveer was asked about Iriafen's performance, and at first, all she could say was "whoa".

.@taras_tweets said it best 😂 pic.twitter.com/m3UNTY06ZJ

— Stanford WBB 🤓🏀 (@StanfordWBB) March 25, 2024

She later added in what was a heavyweight bout, Iriafen was the big hitter of the game.

“This was a heavyweight fight, we had a great fighter out there,” VanDerveer said.

With the win, Stanford is now set to take on No. 3-seed NC State who just beat in No. 6 Tennessee. The two teams will square off on Friday in Portland.