The regular-season champions in the final year of Pac-12 women’s basketball as we know it were well represented in the league’s postseason awards, released Tuesday.
Stanford star Cameron Brink was named the Pac-12’s best defensive and overall player this season, Kiki Iriafen was the most improved and the legendary Tara VanDerveer was honored as the conference’s top coach.
Brink, the senior dual honoree, led the nation in blocks per game (3.6) and her breadth of impact is illustrated by the fact that she is the only Division I player averaging more than 15 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks per game. She the 20th Pac-12 Player of the Year in Stanford history and has now been named the conference’s Defensive Player of the Year three times while finishing fourth in the league at 17.9 points per game.
Iriafen was third in the league in scoring at 18.5 points per game, a huge leap from her 2022-23 sophomore season, when she averaged 6.7. She is also averaging 10.9 rebounds per game, up from 3.8 last year.
The duo’s one-two punch was illustrated last week, when Iriafen recorded 22 points and 20 rebounds on Feb. 25 to clinch a share of the Pac-12 title with a win over Arizona State, then Brink put up 25 points and 24 rebounds four days later at Oregon State to win the conference outright.
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VanDerveer became the NCAA’s all-time leader in coaching wins, surpassing Duke men’s coach Mike Krzyzewski in January. She now has 1,212 wins entering the Pac-12 tournament as the No. 1 seed for the 17th time. She led Stanford to the 34th 20-win season of her tenure and, at 26-4, is in position for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Brink and Iriafen were the only representatives for Stanford or Cal on the all-Pac-12 team but teammates Hannah Jump and Talana Lepolo, as well as Cal’s Ioanna Krimili, were listed as honorable mentions for the team.
Lulu Laditan-Twidale of Cal and Nunu Agara and Courtney Ogden of Stanford were honorable mentions for the all-freshman team.
