Stanford outlasts Iowa State as Kiki Iriafen picks up Cameron Brink

PALO ALTO, CALIF. — Cameron Brink emerged through a black curtain in the corner of Maples Pavilion on Sunday night, about 70 minutes before she was set to play her final game in the building in which she became one of the most prolific players in Stanford’s storied women’s basketball history. The three-time all-American and three-time Pac-12 defensive player of the year trotted out alongside fellow forward Kiki Iriafen as the last two Cardinal to take the floor.

Brink, sporting her trademark dual braids and kneepads, clapped and mouthed the lyrics of Dua Lipa’s “Levitating” that blared aptly from the loudspeakers.

“I got you, moonlight, you’re my starlight”

“I need you all night, come on, dance with me”

The second-round NCAA tournament matchup against No. 7 seed Iowa State was supposed to be about Brink’s star bathing in the light one last time, but she ended up needing Iriafen all night instead. Stanford, the No. 2 seed, won the most thrilling game of the tournament so far, 87-81 in overtime, but Brink struggled and fouled out while Iriafen danced across the Cyclones.

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“It’s fun,” Brink exclaimed despite her off night. “It’s March, baby! It’s fun.”

The 45 minutes of game time ended up being a blend of the past, present and future.

Brink represents the past, of sorts. She was a freshman on the 2020-21 team that won Coach Tara VanDerveer’s third national championship and first since 1992. She has played in two Final Fours, and this year’s No. 2 seed was the lowest of her career. At a lanky 6-foot-4, Brink is just the fourth player in the past 25 years to total 1,800 points, 1,200 rebounds, 200 assists and 400 blocks. Her five blocks Sunday set a single-season program record (119), after she set the previous mark last year. Not only has Brink been a rare talent on the floor, she has become one of the most well-known faces off it with a bevy of NIL deals, including being featured in national commercials for New Balance.

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There were a few signs in the crowd thanking Brink for her contributions, but the dogfight of a game didn’t exactly allow for an individual celebration.

The win, however, was all that mattered.

“This has been my dream school ever since I was in the seventh grade,” Brink said. “Being able to come here, play through covid, all that stuff, it’s just been — it’s made my career, It’s made my life so far.

The slow night from Brink (eight points and eight rebounds to go with the five blocks) allowed fans, and the rest of the country, to see Stanford’s future is safely in the soft hands of a 6-foot-3 junior from Los Angeles. Iriafen was fabulous from the opening tip and had the game of her career with 41 points, 16 rebounds, four assists and three blocks. Eleven of those points came in overtime. Brink bowed down to Iriafen late in the game, and Iriafen was serenaded with M-V-P chants from a crowd that was deafening during a game that featured 18 lead changes. Iriafen looked pro-ready, with Iowa State defenders unable to keep her from getting to the rim or stop her deadly midrange game.

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She and the Cardinal also hadn’t forgotten about last year’s second-round exit from the tournament, the earliest for the program since 2007.

“In the second half I kind of just remembered where we were at last year,” Iriafen said. “It wasn’t a great taste in our mouth. I feel like this whole season we had this loss last year in the back of our minds. We didn’t want that to happen two years in a row.”

Stanford forward Brooke Demetre, who hit a pair of consequential threes, added: “I knew, like, we’re not losing this game. That can’t be your last game here at Stanford.”

While Stanford fans said goodbye to an all-timer in Brink and hello to the Pac-12’s most improved player in Iriafen, Iowa State also gave a glimpse into a bright future by reminding the country it has five freshmen that will be a problem for years to come to go along with a flame-throwing returning senior.

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“There is a lot of things very positive to look forward to, hopefully, and it starts with Emily Ryan,” Iowa State Coach Bill Fennelly said of his veteran guard who announced recently she will be back for a fifth year. “Her coming back changes a lot of things and certainly changes the way I view the world and my job.”

Ryan, a 5-foot-11 guard from Claflin, Kan. (population 562, according to the 2020 census), went shot for shot against Iriafen and lit up Stanford for 36 points, nine rebounds and four assists, making six three-pointers. She made up for a lighter night from all-American honorable mention Audi Crooks, who finished with 10 points and eight rebounds and eventually fouled out, though Crooks did help foul out Brink and put Iriafen in foul trouble.

“[We were] up against a team that was hotter than snot out there,” VanDerveer said.

The Cardinal survived, and Brink will get another opportunity to lead it in the Sweet 16 against North Carolina State.

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