Former Stanford star Kiki Iriafen cherishes return to Bay Area: ‘It’s nice to be at my home away from home.’

SAN FRANCISCO The venue was different but for Washington Mystics rookie forward Kiki Iriafen Wednesday night s meeting against the Golden State Valkyries was a homecoming She played at Stanford for three seasons before transferring to USC Picked fourth in last month s WNBA draft Iriafen noted the trip to the Bay Area was something she had circled on her calendar It s been amazing she revealed I visited various of my friends at Stanford so it s nice to be at my home away from home The transition from college to the pros has been smooth so far for Iriafen In Washington s somewhat surprising - start heading into Wednesday s tournament she averaged points and nine rebounds per competition On Wednesday Iriafen recorded her second straight double-double as she totaled points and grabbed rebounds Washington fell to the Valkyries - Golden State Valkyries' Kayla Thornton drives past Washington Mystics' Kiki Iriafen as Golden State Valkyries' Temi Fagbenle gestures in the first quarter of a WNBA meeting at Chase Center in San Francisco Calif on Wednesday May Ray Chavez Bay Area News Group Her poise in the moment is exceptional Washington coach Sydney Johnson declared after Wednesday s loss I mean we re talking about a rookie three games into her career So I just love everything about her and you know we re expecting she ll continue to build Her having a double-double when she s perhaps not at her best says a lot about her as a participant Iriafen s production comes as no surprise to the legendary Tara VanDerveer who coached Iriafen at Stanford from to Iriafen left for USC shortly after VanDerveer retired She has such great size and athleticism VanDerveer stated the Bay Area News Group this week She invariably just wants to keep working on her fundamentals She s invariably getting better at becoming a consistent scorer inside and out Iriafen spent her first two years at Stanford as a role contestant alongside stars Haley Jones and Cameron Brink But a breakout season as a junior instantly made her a pro prospect Stanford s Kiki Iriafen scores a basket against Norfolk State during the first round of the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament at Maples Pavilion in Stanford Calif Friday March Karl Mondon Bay Area News Group Karl Mondon Bay Area News Group Iriafen upped her scoring average from in her sophomore season to as a junior With Iriafen and Brink as starters in the frontcourt Stanford went - before falling in the Sweet In her final competition at Maples Pavillion Iriafen scored a career-high points and grabbed rebounds to lead Stanford past Iowa State in the Round of VanDerveer retired after the Cardinal s Sweet exit and Iriafen returned home to Los Angeles transferring to USC to join college basketball superstar Juju Watkins She went on to earn all-Big Ten first-team honors this past season and helped lead the Trojans to an Elite Eight appearance In her short time in the pros Iriafen has already established herself as a no nonsense player In a preseason encounter two weeks ago she went viral after she threw Indiana Fever veteran Sophie Cunningham to the ground while fighting for a rebound She drew a flagrant foul for her actions but manifested she isn t afraid to mix it up with seasoned pros Kiki never backs down and she never has VanDerveer reported She s a competitor and that s what you love about her She goes hard and she really puts her heart and soul into the encounter You just love that as a coach Related Articles History made Valkyries win first competition in franchise history beating Washington Mystics in dramatic fashion Valkyries seek first win as unbeaten Washington Mystics visit Chase Center What we learned from Valkyries season-opening loss to L A Sparks Valkyries second-half comeback falls short as Golden State drops season opener to L A Sparks Expansion Valkyries make history with WNBA opener at Chase Center Iriafen spent her entire life in California before getting drafted by Washington In high school she played for SoCal powerhouse Harvard-Westlake before heading north to Stanford She disclosed relocating to the East Coast has helped her focus on basketball this season but she ll reliably cherish her time in the Bay Area I was coached by a legendary coach and nobody has been able to do what she s done Iriafen reported about VanDerveer I think just being at Stanford and being at USC has really prepared me to play at this level I ve dealt with different coaching and playing styles I ve had to deal with a lot of adversity as well So I think both of them prepared me to excel at this level and I wouldn t be who I am the present day without either of those institutions Stanford Cardinal's Kiki Iriafen celebrates after their - overtime win over the Iowa State Cyclones during the second round of the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament at Maples Pavilion in Stanford Calif on Sunday March Nhat V Meyer Bay Area News Group Bay Area News Group sports reporter Joseph Dycus contributed to this story