Kiki Iriafen finished with a career-high 41 points to go with 16 rebounds and three blocks, and Brooke Demetre came up big in overtime as No. 2 seed Stanford outlasted No. 7 seed Iowa State 87-81 on Sunday in a second-round Women’s NCAA Tournament clash in Palo Alto, Calif.
Demetre hit a 3-pointer with 18 seconds left to put Stanford back ahead 83-81, then rebounded Iowa State’s missed layup and hit two free throws with 11 seconds to help seal the win in the Portland 4 Region.
The Cardinal (30-5) will play the winner of Monday’s game between third-seeded NC State and No. 6 Tennessee in the Sweet 16 on Friday in Portland, Ore.
The game was tied 50-50 after three quarters, and Iowa State’s Addy Brown knotted the game again at 66-66 with a layup 1:11 to play. Both teams missed shots over the next minute, and contest went to an extra period.
Two free throws by Iriafen gave the Cardinal an 80-78 lead with 53 seconds left in overtime. Brown’s 3-pointer with 31 seconds to play put Iowa State on top before Demetre took over.
Hannah Jump added 15 points for Stanford. Cameron Brink, the Pac-12 Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year, had just eight points before fouling out with 2:11 left in regulation.
Emily Ryan had a career-high 36 points for Iowa State (21-12), which also got 18 points from Brown and 10 from Audi Crooks.
Stanford scored the first seven points of the second period to knot the game at 23 at the 5:21 mark. There were seven lead changes and two ties in the quarter, with the Cyclones closing the period with a layup and two free throws by Ryan to swoop to a 33-31 lead at the break.
Iriafen led all scorers before halftime with 16 points while Ryan had 15.
Iowa State led by as many as four points in the third quarter, but the Cardinal rallied to tie the game at 48 on Nunu Agara’s driving layup with 2:16 to play in the period.
After a pair of free throws by Crooks put the Cyclones back in front, Iriafen drove for a layup that send the game into the fourth quarter tied at 50.
–Field Level Media