With only one dribble inside the arc, all eyes in Maples Pavilion were fixed on Kiki Iriafen. After another dribble and two more steps, the junior forward used her long wingspan to throw down a dunk.

While this was warmups, Iriafen’s slam catalyzed her teammates before Stanford’s 84-49 win over Cal.

Averaging nearly 19 points and ten rebounds, Iriafen’s emergence this season has been a big reason why the Cardinal are slated to be a No. 1 seed in the latest NCAA tournament projections.

But perhaps her most important role is elevating the energy of the team during practice and before games: “If you think of an energizer bunny, that’s me,” Iriafen said.

Despite five members of the team either graduating, entering the WNBA or transferring, Stanford’s team chemistry appears to have stayed strong. Iriafen’s leadership was the undercurrent to the team dynamics. 

“I’m like a mother bear. I like to coddle my freshmen and all my teammates and make sure that they feel loved,” Iriafen said. 

Iriafen, along with Cameron Brink, plays a key role in setting the tone at any given moment. When head coach Tara VanDerveer tied former Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski for the number of all-time wins by a college basketball coach, Iriafen picked up and raised VanDerveer from the floor, giving weight to a special moment.  

“[Iriafen] is like my biggest cheerleader, and I’m trying to be hers,” Brink said. “Even in hard moments, we’ll be laughing and remind each other it’s not that serious, but we’re going to compete our hardest. She’s a blast to play with.”

But growing up, basketball wasn’t highly valued for Iriafen. While the six-foot-three forward was around the game growing up, she viewed basketball as a men’s sport. However, her height led her to organized basketball in eighth grade.

“Since then, I’ve just fallen in love with the game,” Iriafen said. “Now, it’s like an outlet. In my everyday life, I’m super girly. Then when I come on the court, I can be aggressive, all over the place and have a lot of emotion. I like the duality of that.”

Her off-the-court interests are a reflection of this duality. Her love of fashion led her to model for FashionX, ​​an organization for students interested in design and the fashion industry. 

“I love modeling. I’ve been trying to do a lot of magazine modeling and runway modeling,” Iriafen said. “I’m going to be a supermodel one day.”

In addition to a professional basketball career and a modeling career, Iriafen wants to use her Design major to connect with her Nigerian heritage. 

“I am passionate about my culture, so I could do some design work in Nigeria or work with women and children working on women’s health,” Iriafen said.

On the court, Iriafen’s arrival as an All-American caliber player this year caught the country by surprise. The jump from high school to college takes a period of adjustment for most players, and Iriafen was no exception. After being the tallest and strongest player on her high school team, the forward was now going against players taller and more athletic than her. While the sharp increase in competition can affect a player’s self-esteem for long periods of time, this season Iriafen elevated her confidence to new heights.

“[Iriafen’s] confidence has improved a lot, and her game has improved,” said VanDerveer. “As a freshman and sophomore, it can be hard, but she has shown a lot of determination.”

“[My game] is 90% mental, 10% physical. I know what I can do. I do it in practice all the time,“ Iriafen said. “I can get in my head sometimes, which is what I worked on this summer.”

To enhance her skills, Iriafen dedicated herself to intense summer workouts with her trainer who she shares with Johnny Juzang, a fellow Harvard-Westlake graduate and a current NBA player. 

Those training sessions have certainly been paying off in a huge way: the Nigerian-American forward now possesses a lethal combination of face-up and post-up skills, making her nearly impossible to defend. 

As women’s basketball continues to expand its viewership, Iriafen could elevate into one of the great ambassadors of the game. Not only does her athleticism and skill set give her a unique grace on the court, but also her ambition in the fashion industry and her desire to aid her ethnic homeland Nigeria could extend her influence beyond basketball.

But for now, the veteran forward is focused on helping the Cardinal secure the last ever Pac-12 regular season championship.

“The sky’s the limit,” VanDerveer said. “She’s having a great career at Stanford and we just want her to keep it going.”