It took a career night from KiKi Iriafen, and a huge overtime performance from Brooke Demetre, but the Cardinal have avenged 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 last 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. Brooke Demetre put Stanford up with a clutch 3-pointer, but Iowa State’s Addy Brown hit a layup to tie it back up one last time before the Cyclones came up with one last stop to force overtime.
Both Stanford and Iowa State then traded bucket after bucket in what was 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 just 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 then hit four free throws down the stretch to close out the six point win.
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 on Friday night — was held to 10 points and eight rebounds while shooting just 3-of-21 from the field.
KiKi Iriafen led Stanford with a career-high 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 what was her last home game at Stanford, added eight points and eight rebounds.
The Cardinal have now made it through to the Sweet 16, something they thought would happen last year before Ole Miss knocked them out in the second round at home in stunning fashion. They’ll now take on either Tennessee or NC State next weekend in Portland.
