Editor’s Note: This story is part of a series from SB Nation profiling the 2025 WNBA All-Star teams. Today, let’s get to know Kiki Iriafen.
It’s all come together for Kiki Iriafen
The Washington Mystics rookie began her career with a Rookie of the Month award, and followed that up with an All-Star selection.
Noa Dalzell is a senior writer covering the WNBA and all of women’s basketball for Breakaway, SB Nation’s women’s sports vertical, as well as the Celtics for CelticsBlog.
Kiki Iriafen didn’t have the most picture-perfect final season in college. The 6’3 forward, who had transferred to USC after three years at Stanford, saw her offensive role slightly diminish as her scoring and shooting percentage both dropped.
USC, one of the favorites to win the NCAA title, fell in the Elite Eight without point guard and star player JuJu Watkins, who tore her ACL days prior. Iriafen struggled in Watkins’ absence, scoring just 10 points on 3 of 15 shooting and punctuating a season in which she didn’t reach the same offensive heights she did prior.
Still, Iriafen went on to be selected fourth overall by the Washington Mystics in the 2025 WNBA Draft.
In Washington, it’s all come together
She’s averaging 11.9 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 1.4 assists per game, shooting 46% from the field. In May, she was named the WNBA’s Rookie of the Year.
That came after she averaged 13.9 points, 10.1 rebounds, and 1.0 assists per game while shooting 47.4% from the field.
The Mystics’ rookies have powered the team’s success
Iriafen and Sonia Citron — the Mystics’ No. 3 overall pick — have formed a formidable duo that has catapulted Washington into the playoff picture. The Mystics enter the All-Star break 11-11, good for the league’s 7th-best record.
Alongside Iriafen, Citron has averaged 14.1 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1 steal per game.
“Kiki is an amazing player and an even better person,” Citron told SB Nation. “It’s just been really cool to kind of go, go through everything with her. It’s cool because we’re both kind of just going through the same thing. She’s somebody that I can lean on, and I’m somebody that she can lean on.”
Citron said Iriafen is easy to play with.
“Day by day, and practice by practice, we’ve been able to build chemistry, and it’s only going to get better from here,” Citron said. “But I was so excited and happy that she was an All-Star. I was kind of expecting that. It’s just really cool that I can experience this with her.”
Both rookies were named All-Star reserves by the WNBA’s 12 head coaches. On Thursday, the WNBA named Brittney Sykes, who leads the Mystics in scoring this season, an injury replacement.
Few could have projected Iriafen would have this seamless of a transition to the pros, but she’s quickly established herself as one of the WNBA’s elite two-way bigs.
See More:
