STANFORD, Calif. – Stanford junior Kiki Iriafen is one of five finalists for the 2024 Katrina McClain Award, which recognizes the top power forward in women's college basketball.
Iriafen is joined on the list of finalists by Yvonne Ejim (Gonzaga), Angel Reese (LSU), Aaliyah Edwards (UConn) and Alissa Pili (Utah). The winner of the 2024 Katrina McClain Award will be revealed on a to-be-determined date, along with the other four members of the Women's Starting Five.
Fans can support Iriafen by participating in Fan Voting, presented by Dell Technologies, starting Friday, March 8, on hoophallawards.com. The Fan Vote will count as one committee vote during the finalist selection process. Later this month, the finalists will be presented to McClain and the Hall of Fame's selection committee. The Selection Committee for the Katrina McClain Awards is composed of top women's college basketball personnel, including media members, head coaches, sports information directors, and Hall of Famers.
The Pac-12 Most Improved Player of the Year and an All-Pac-12 pick, Iriafen is having an All-America caliber season in her junior campaign. Third in the league in scoring (18.5) and rebounding (10.9), Iriafen is one of five major conference players in the country averaging 18.0 points and 10.0 rebounds per game and in seven games against the AP Top 25 this season is averaging 20.3 points and 12.3 rebounds. She one of three players in the country averaging 20+ points and 10+ rebounds against the AP Top 25.
Iriafen has taken a massive leap as a junior and after averaging 6.7 points and 3.8 rebounds as a sophomore, she's putting up 18.5 points (+11.8) and 10.9 rebounds (+7.1) per game this season. Currently, she has the fourth-best year-over-year improvement in the country in scoring average and is first in rebounding average. Since 1999-2000, Erica McCall has the largest increases at Stanford, going from 5.6 points per game as a sophomore to 14.9 as a junior (+9.3) and from 5.4 rebounds per game to 9.4 (+4.0).
Among a number of memorable performances this season, Iriafen scored a career-high 36 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in a 65-56 victory over Oregon State on Jan. 21, Tara VanDerveer's record 1,203rd, to become the first Cardinal since Chiney Ogwumike in 2014 with at least 35 points and 10 boards in a game. From Jan. 12-26, she posted a double-double in five consecutive games, the longest streak for the Cardinal since Ogwumike did it in six in a row in 2013-14.
