STANFORD — Kiki Iriafen wouldn’t let Stanford lose, and Brooke Demetre saved the two biggest shots of her career for clutch moments Sunday night as the Cardinal beat Iowa State 87-81 in an NCAA Women’s Tournament second-round game at Maples Pavilion.
Stanford (30-5) closed the game on a 7-0 run as it earned its 29th bid in the Sweet 16, advancing with a win on the same floor in which the Cardinal was upset a year ago against Mississippi.
In the Portland 4 Regional, Stanford will face either No. 3 North Carolina State (28-6) or No. 6 Tennessee (20-12), who play Monday in Raleigh, N.C.
It was the 100th NCAA Tournament win for coach Tara VanDerveer at Stanford as the Cardinal improved its record at Maples Pavilion in the tournament to 42-6.
“This was a heavyweight fight and we had a great fighter out there, and a lot of people stepped up really big for us,” VanDerveer said.
Iriafen had 41 points and 16 rebounds for Stanford, with Iowa State senior guard Emily Ryan nearly matching her shot-for-shot with 36 points.
“I think I started the game off hot, and I just remembered where were last year,” Iriafen said. “It wasn’t a great taste in our mouths. We had that loss last year in the in the back of our minds. We didn’t want to lose two years in a row. We wanted to get to Portland, it’s not the end of our season, and we want to get to Cleveland.”
Demetre had a clutch 3-pointer to tie the score in the fourth quarter and then hit the 3-point shot that put the game away in the final minute of overtime to go along with a pair of free throws.
Senior Hannah Jump added 15 points for Stanford, with Addy Brown scoring 18 for the Cyclones.
The game had 18 lead changes before a near capacity crowd that included Iowa State alumnus and 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy. The Cyclones hit 12 of 19 3-point shots — some of them wide open, and some with defenders in good position with the shots going in anyway.
The Cyclones outrebounded Stanford 42-36, but turned the ball over 19 times — including 10 by Ryan — and were 11 of 17 from the foul line while the Cardinal was 13 of 14.
“We wanted to get out of here and go to Portland. That’s been our motto all week,” Jump said. “As much as I love Maples, I didn’t want my season to end here tonight. It was emotional to play in front of this crowd one more time. it was super loud and it was helpful for us, especially down the stretch.”
Audi Crooks, the 6-foot-3 freshman post, had 10 points and eight rebounds before fouling out with 3:41 left in overtime. Stanford didn’t double Crooks much, leaving it up to either Iriafen or Cameron Brink to to play defense.
Crooks, two days after going 18-for-20 from the field, was 3-for-21 Sunday night. She had seven shots blocked, with Brink finishing with five blocks and Iriafen three.
Iriafen has proven to be not only one of the most improved players in the Pac-12, but one of the best in the country. Urged on by Brink, who was limited to just under 23 minutes because of fouls, Iriafen consistently worked well inside and also buried mid-range jumpers in going 16-for-30 from the floor.
“There were sometimes where I told Kiki maybe to be a little more patient, but the basket got really big for her,” VanDerveer said. “When Cam’s not in there and Kiki is shooting, we’re not as good on the glass. But how could you have too much Kiki tonight?”
Ryan said Iriafen was basically unstoppable.
“There wasn’t much we could do to stop her,” Ryan said. “Every time we tried to do something she countered it with a strong move or something different.”
Demetre hadn’t even taken a shot until she nailed a 3-pointer for a 66-64 lead with 1:20 left. In overtime, she did it again, drilling a 3-pointer for an 83-81 lead with 18.4 seconds to play.
“I call her `Big Shot Brooke.’ She hit some big shots for us and it was exciting,” VanDerveer said. “She was very poised.”
The Cardinal had a shot to win in regulation when Iriafen got a decent look at a baseline jumper over Crooks at the buzzer, but the ball rolled off with the score tied 66-66. Moments before, Crooks had a shot roll off the rim against Iriafen, who corralled the rebound to give Stanford a chance at the win.
Brink fouled out with 2:11 to play in the fourth quarter when Iowa State held a 64-63 lead. She finished with eight points and eight rebounds.
The game was tied 50-50 after three quarters, after which both Brink and Iriafen were in foul trouble. Brink picked up her third with 4:55 left in the quarter on a rebound foul and then her fourth at 1:28 when she fouled Crooks.
Iriafen, who had 24 points and 10 rebounds through three quarters received her third foul with 1:43 left in the quarter.
Stanford tightened things up defensively in the second half but shot just 36 percent (12-for-33) and trailed 33-31 with Ryan hitting a pair of foul shots after being fouled with one second remaining. The Cardinal was 3-for-11 on 3-point attempts and finished 8-for-25.
Iriafen led Stanford with 16 points in seven rebounds, but Brink was just 1-for-5 and two points.
Ryan led Iowa State with 15 points, with Stanford keeping Crooks under control with five points and four rebounds on 2-for-10 shooting against the defense of Iriafen and Brink.
Iowa State took a 23-16 first-quarter lead not by forcing the ball inside to Crooks, but by taking advantage of 3-point opportunities, going 6-for-8 with Ryan hitting her third of the quarter for the final points of the quarter.
Hannah Belanger an Brown each had a pair of 3-pointers for Iowa State, which at one point went on a 12-0 run in a span of 1:42 to seize the lead.
Iriafen had 10 first-quarter points for Stanford, which didn’t have a 3-pointer in the quarter.
On Iowa State’s first three attempts to feed Crooks inside, the freshman missed a fadeaway in the key with Brink defending, then had two entry passes slapped away by Brink. With 4:20 left in the first quarter, another fadeaway over Iriafen came up short and later had an inside shot roll off the rim also on Iriafen.
When Crooks finally did score, she backed down Brink and sent her sprawling, scoring inside with 1:59 left in the quarter.
