USC’s Kiki Iriafen heads list of transfers in women’s basketball

Southern California’s Kiki Iriafen can’t wait to start delivering highlight-worthy plays with JuJu Watkins now that the former Pac-12 rivals are teammates in the Big Ten Conference.

Iriafen won the Katrina McClain Award last season as the top power forward in women’s college basketball, and her move from Stanford to USC was perhaps the most notable offseason development in the transfer portal. Iriafen and Watkins, coming off a sensational freshman season, were two of the five players selected to the Associated Press preseason All-America team.

The combination helped earn USC a No. 3 ranking in the preseason AP Top 25, behind only defending national champion South Carolina and UConn. Iriafen promised USC would deliver a fast-paced, high-energy, relentless style.

“We want people to come watch us and be like, ‘Wow, this is an exciting team,’” Iriafen told reporters. “Kind of playing into that Lakers Showtime. We’re in L.A.”

Iriafen, who is 6-foot-3, had 19.4 points and 11 rebounds per game last season while earning honorable mention on the AP All-America team. She had a 41-point performance against Iowa State and a 20-rebound game against Arizona State.

Now she’s playing alongside Watkins, who earned first-team All-America honors last year after averaging 27.1 points per game to rank second in Division I. Her 920 total points were the most ever for a freshman.

“We’re both very unselfish,” Iriafen said. “I feel like that’s why our dynamic is able to work so well. I think we’re just both going out there and trying to have fun and win.”

Here’s a look at some of the other top transfers in women’s college basketball this season (former schools in parentheses):

Georgia Amoore, Kentucky (Virginia Tech)

When Kentucky hired Kenny Brooks away from Virginia Tech, Amoore followed her coach from Blacksburg to Lexington. Amoore, who is 5-foot-6, ranked fourth among all Division I players in assists per game (6.8) last season. She also had 18.8 points per…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/usc-kiki-iriafen-heads-list-164007794.html

Author : NBC Sports

Publish date : 2024-10-31 16:40:00

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