Gottlieb praises Iriafen after WNBA success. ‘A joy to be around’
Kiki Iriafen, a 2024 forward for USC, became a WNBA All-Star in her first season.
By DANTE LING
Less than a year after playing on women’s basketball’s Elite Eight team, forward Kiki Iriafen wasted no time adjusting to the WNBA, becoming an All-Star and breaking multiple rookie records for the Washington Mystics. While the accolades may impress many, USC Head Coach Lindsay Gottlieb told the Daily Trojan she wasn’t surprised by Iriafen’s success.
“She wasn’t just high school good. She wasn’t just college good. We knew she’d be WNBA good with those things,” Gottlieb said in an interview with the Daily Trojan on Sept. 2.
Through her first 41 games in the WNBA, Iriafen is averaging 13.1 points, 8.6 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game, doing all of this on nearly 50% from the field. She is fourth in the league in rebounds with 352, only trailing three All-Stars with at least two years of experience in the league.
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Iriafen has also established herself as a double-double machine, including logging four in her first five career games, becoming the first rookie since former Phoenix Suns guard Tina Charles in 2010. Her most recent double-double came on Aug. 31 when she put up 22 points and grabbed 12 boards to lead the Mystics over the Los Angeles Sparks.
After playing three seasons at Stanford, Iriafen transferred to USC and became one of the team’s leaders alongside junior guard JuJu Watkins, leading the Trojans to a 31-4 record.
“She really was willing to put in the time to work on her game, and she was willing to put in the time on things that maybe she wasn’t comfortable with at first and got comfortable,” Gottlieb said.
At USC, Iriafen averaged 18 points per game, 8.4 rebounds per game and 1.8 assists per game while shooting 49% from the field.
Last season, the USC women’s basketball made it all the way to the Elite Eight. Unfortunately, USC’s star point guard, JuJu Watkins, suffered a torn ACL in the second round against the Mississippi State Bulldogs. Because of this, the chances of advancement were looking slim.
This was not a problem for Kiki. In that same game, she put up 36 points and 9 rebounds, being an unguardable force and offensive leader, leading the Trojans to a win. They then went on to win one more game, with Kiki grabbing 8 rebounds and leading the charge against the No. 5 seed Kansas State Wildcats.
“[Iriafen is] just high energy, [a] winning person, winning player, just a joy to be around, a really positive, energetic human being,” Gottlieb said.
