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March Madness: Kiki Iriafen, No. 2 Stanford fend off Iowa State in overtime to reach Sweet 16

Stanford held on to take an 87-81 overtime win over Iowa State on Sunday night

Ryan Young
Staff writer
·2 min read
12

It took a career-high 41 points from Kiki Iriafen and a huge overtime performance from Brooke Demetre for Stanford to avenge last season’s stunning home loss in the NCAA tournament.

Demetre and No. 2 Stanford held on in a thrilling battle to beat No. 7 Iowa State 87-81 in overtime of their second round NCAA tournament matchup on Sunday night at Maples Pavilion. That sent the Cardinal into the Sweet 16 for the third time in the past four seasons.

The two teams were locked in a battle all night at Stanford. There were nine ties and 12 lead changes throughout regulation, and neither team managed more than a seven-point lead throughout the contest. Demetre put Stanford up with a clutch 3-pointer late in the fourth quarter, but Iowa State’s Addy Brown hit a layup to tie it back up before the Cyclones came up with one last stop to force overtime.

Stanford and Iowa State then traded buckets in a ridiculously entertaining overtime period. Demetre responded after a Brown 3-pointer at the 30 second mark with one of her own on the next possession to put Stanford up by two with 19 seconds left.

Demetre’s final 3-pointer finally did the trick. Brown just barely missed a tight contested layup at the other end, and Stanford hit four free throws down the stretch to close out the six-point win.

"I think we were excited to still be in the game. Going into overtime, we had them right where we wanted," Brown said, via Cyclone Fanatic. "We gave them all we had."

Emily Ryan led the Cyclones with a career-high 36 points and nine rebounds after shooting 6-of-9 from behind the arc. Center Audi Crooks — who dropped 40 points in their opening round game Friday night — was held to 10 points and eight rebounds while shooting 3-of-21 from the field.

Iriafen led Stanford with those 41 points and 16 rebounds while shooting 16-of-30 from the field. Hannah Jump added 15 points and Cameron Brink, who fouled out before overtime of her last home game at Stanford, added eight points and eight rebounds.

Last year, Ole Miss knocked out the Cardinal in the second round of the NCAA tournament at home in stunning fashion. Stanford will now take on either Tennessee or NC State next weekend in Portland.