Former Cardinal Iriafen dominates in her debut game for USC

Leaving Stanford to join an up and coming USC team, her first game with her new school was one for the ages.

Mar 8, 2024; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Stanford Cardinal forward Kiki Iriafen (44) drives the lane against Oregon State Beavers forward Raegan Beers (15) during the fourth quarter at MGM Grand Garden Arena. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images / Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images

When longtime Stanford head coach Tara VanDerveer retired in April, it began the domino effect of change within the Stanford women’s basketball program. For the first time since the 1980s, with one season in the mid 1990s as well, a different head coach will roam the sidelines for Cardinal, bringing up some uncertainty as to how good the team will be. 

With a new coach taking over, it was only natural that some players already on the team would opt to leave. While the Cardinal only really lost two players of prominence, one of those players was none other than Kiki Iriafen who, after becoming a superstar alongside Cameron Brink, opted to transfer to her hometown school, USC, for her final college season. In her debut game, Iriafen proved how important she will be to the Trojans success this year.

In what was a close 68-66 win over No. 20 Ole Miss, Iriafen went off in her inaugural game for the Trojans, starting the game at forward and playing 32 minutes where she finished second in scoring with 22 points while also recording 13 rebounds. Iriafen was instrumental late in the game as well, stealing an Ole Miss inbound with 21 seconds left and drawing the foul, ultimately knocking down two free throws with 9.7 seconds left to help the Trojans take a late lead and win the game.

Up 37-26 at the half, Ole Miss then came back in the second half and made things very close, going on a 6-0 run with around five minutes left in the fourth quarter to take a one point lead. Luckily for the Trojans, Iriafen started to go off again, accounting for four of the final eight USC points that helped it win.

Juju Watkins, last year’s national freshman of the year, led the team with 27 points and while she will once again be the star at USC, the addition of Iriafen gives the Trojans two superstars as they look to claim the third national title in program history after falling to UConn in the Elite Eight to end the 2023-24 season.

A five-star recruit coming out of Harvard-Westlake High School, Iriafen initially chose Stanford over offers from schools like UConn, UCLA, Baylor, and Notre Dame and then proceeded to spend the first three seasons of her college career with the Cardinal, evolving into a program legend in the process. In her final year on The Farm in 2023-24, Iriafen averaged 19.4 points, 2.3 assists and 11 rebounds per game while starting and playing in all 36 games as she helped guide the Cardinal to an appearance in the Sweet Sixteen.

For her strong campaign, she made the All-Pac-12 team, won the Pac-12 Most Improved Player Award and the Katrina McClain Award. The latter award is given to the best power forward in women’s Division I college basketball.

A win has USC sitting pretty heading into its next game, and with a big game from Iriafen and Watkins, confidence is high in the Trojans locker room that this can be their year to win it all. Off for the rest of the week, the Trojans will return home to face Cal Poly in their next game on Saturday, Nov. 9.