Former Stanford Stars Shine in WNBA

Over its history, the Stanford Cardinal athletics department has churned out hundreds of superstars that have gone on to have strong professional careers in their respective sports, from John Elway and Andrew Luck among others in football to Cameron Brink and the Ogwumike sisters in women’s basketball.

In the WNBA this season, Stanford has a lot of representation, with multiple teams carrying ex-Cardinal superstars on their rosters.

And on June 3, three former Cardinal stars put together exceptional performances for their teams, showing that stardom at Stanford is still going strong. Lexie Hull, Kiki Iriafen and Alanna Smith all put their dominance on full display on Tuesday night as they helped their teams in a big way.

With Fever star Caitlin Clark out with a quad injury, Hull has had to take on a much bigger role than she is accustomed to, going from a key bench player to one of the team’s starters. Against the Washington Mystics, Hull had no issues embracing her new role, playing a team high of 36 minutes while scoring 14 points, with six rebounds and four assists in the 85-76 win.

Going 6-for-9 from the field and 2-for-4 from three, Hull was second on the Fever in scoring for the night, trailing only Kelsey Mitchell, who had 24 points. The Fever won the game 85-76, bumping their record up to 3-4 to begin the year.

Iriafen, the Mystics’ star rookie, continued to show that she is a rising superstar in the W, tying a team high of 20 points for the night while grabbing nine rebounds in 27 minutes. Despite the loss, Iriafen scored her most points in a game so far this season and is currently averaging a double-double with 14.6 points and 10.0 rebounds.

With longtime Mystics star, Elena Delle Donne, retiring before the season, Iriafen has been counted on to make up for her lost production–something she has done a great job of doing so far. In fact, her strong performance during the first month of the season earned her the WNBA Rookie of the Month Award.

So far this season, the Mystics are 3-5 but Iriafen is second on the team in scoring and leads all Mystics players in rebounding. She looks to have a bright future ahead.

As for Smith, she continues to prove her value to Minnesota’s current plans. The Lynx are 8-0 to begin this season and have major title aspirations after losing to the New York Liberty in last season’s WNBA Finals.

Smith continues to be a driving force. In an 88-65 victory over the Phoenix Mercury on Tuesday night, Smith scored 13 points in 25 minutes played, also grabbing three rebounds and recording six assists. She shot 5-for-6 from the field and 3-for-4 from three point range.

Under Tara VanDerveer, Stanford was a women’s basketball powerhouse, winning three national titles and consistently being in the national spotlight. With how well her former players are doing in the pros, it shows just how well Stanford sports prepare its athletes for the next level of play.