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| Freshman forward Nunu Agara and Kiki celebrate during the Iowa State game. |
Is there a cardiologist in the house?
That could have been the cry in Maples on March 24
when the two-seeded Stanford women’s basketball team won a thrilling 87-81
victory over seven-seeded Iowa State in the second round of the NCAA
tournament.
Thus the team erased the bad taste left by its
second-round upset loss to Ole Miss last year.
Perhaps the band knew something this year as it
played ABBA’s “Dancing Queen” before the game started. Yes, the team keeps on
dancing as it advances to the Sweet 16 regional in Portland, where it will play
three-seeded North Carolina State at 4:30 p.m. March 29.
But it wasn’t easy. Twelve ties and 18 lead changes
kept the crowd of more than 5,800 in suspense until the final seconds of
overtime.
Late in the first quarter, Stanford held a 4-point
lead as the crowd often booed calls against the Cardinal, but the Cyclones led by
7 points at the buzzer. They led by 2 points at the half. The third ended in a
50-50 tie, as did the fourth, 66-66.
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| Kiki helped to defeat Iowa State. |
Kiki
leads the way
The heroine of the game was junior forward Kiki
Iriafen, who finished with 41 points and 16 rebounds. The last time a Stanford
player posted a similar double-double in an NCAA tournament was Jayne Appel,
’10, who had 16 rebounds and 46 points against none other than Iowa State in
2009, Stanford Athletics reported. Kiki also had four assists, three blocks and
a steal.
Playing in her final game at Stanford, grad guard
Hannah Jump was the only other Cardinal in double figures with 15 points, thanks
in part to her three 3’s.
Also contributing to Stanford’s eight 3’s were
sophomore guard Talana Lepolo and junior forward Brooke Demetre with two each,
while redshirt sophomore guard Jzaniya Harriel had one.
On the other hand, Iowa State hoisted 12 3’s. It
also had more rebounds, 42-36, but Stanford had more assists, more blocks and
fewer turnovers.
Also playing in her final Maples game, senior
forward Cameron Brink had five blocks but an unusually low 8 points and eight
rebounds because fouls limited her playing time to just 22 minutes. She fouled
out late in the fourth quarter.
Like the rest of the game, the overtime was a
nail-biter as Stanford mostly held a 2-point lead until the final 18.4 seconds.
That’s when Brooke hit a clutch 3 and then made two free throws with under 12
seconds left to virtually ice the win. Kiki added some insurance with two more
free throws.
One of the big concerns going into this game was how
to contain Iowa State’s freshman center Audi Crooks. She had 40 points and 12
rebounds in Iowa State’s 93-86 win over 10-seeded Maryland in the
first-round.
Stanford succeeded on that front, limiting her to 10
points before she fouled out early in the overtime. However, guard Emily Ryan
broke loose for 36 points, helped by her six 3’s.
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| Players on the bench react to a Stanford score against Norfolk State. |
Elena helps lead the team over Norfolk State
In the team’s first-round 79-50 victory over Norfolk
State on March 22, junior guard Elena Bosgana opened the scoring with a
3-pointer.
The team stayed ahead for the rest of the game,
expanding its margin from 3 points after the first quarter to 13 at the half,
21 after the third and 29 at the final buzzer.
Elena’s opening 3 was the first of her four. Hannah also
had four, and freshman forward Courtney Ogden topped it off with one.
Everyone was available, and everyone played.
Elena led the team in scoring with a career-high 18
points. Kiki and Cam were right behind her with 17 each. Cam also had team highs
of 15 rebounds and six blocks. Kiki was close to a double-double with nine
rebounds. Hannah had 13 points. Three other players scored.
Cam’s time was limited by fouls. She collected her
second slightly past the halfway mark of the second quarter and added a third
early in the third quarter.
Although Norfolk’s players were shorter than
Stanford’s, the Spartans’ disruptive defense contributed to Stanford’s 14
turnovers, in part the result of 10 steals.
Fans
enjoy timeout antics
For the more than 4,500 fans’ enjoyment during
timeouts there were, among others, a Sock Toss, Great Hair Cam and, in the
fourth quarter, the Mascot Dance-off between the Tree and the agile Mr.
Spartan, who wowed the crowd with splits.
In earning the right to face Stanford, seven-seeded
Iowa State defeated 10-seeded Maryland 93-86 in the day’s earlier game.
During that game, head coach Tara VanDerveer and
assistant coaches Erica “Bird” McCall and Tempie Brown scouted at a table along
the east courtside while the team, assistant coach Katy Steding, associate head
coach Kate Paye and other staffers watched from the lower southeast section.
Cardinal players, coaches honored
Before the tournament began, Stanford finished the
regular season ranked #5 by AP and raked in several honors: Cam was named a first team AP
All-American and an ESPN All-American, and Kiki was an honorable
mention AP All-American.
Kate was named WBCA Assistant Coach of the Year, and
Tempie was part of the A Step Up Assistant Coaches Hall of Fame Class of 2024.
The team has a break from classes after the winter quarter exams ended March 22. Spring quarter classes start April 1.
Photos by Stanford Athletics
