Washington Mystic of USA’s Nigerian-born star, Okikiola ‘Kiki’ Iriafen was in top form for her side in the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) and became the only player to record 14 or more rebounds in her first two career play-off games.
However, Sports247 reports that, though Iriafen was on top of her form and ended up notching 16 rebounds in the thrilling encounter versus Atlanta Dream, she could not save her side from slumping 93-75 in Game 2 of the WNBA play-offs.
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In contrast with the ill fortune that trailed Iriafen’s side, Atlanta Dream inched closer to a ticket into their first WNBA semi-final series since 2018, as they pulled off and a first-round series sweep over The Mystics, who dropped down the perking order.
While Iriafen also became the 10th WNBA player to get over 14 rebounds in back-to-back play-off games, the highlight of this game was The Dream’s dominant defense, which forced 19 turnovers and scored 23 points off all, but Mystics forced just eight turnovers.
On the offensive side, all five Atlanta starters finished in double figures, with Allisha Gray’s 22 points leading the way, while Jordin Canada had a double-double with 19 points and 11 assists, Rhyne Howard added 15 points and Angel Reese had 15 points.
Iriafen found her personal range despite the physically drenching nature of the encounter, as there were 53 called fouls, with The Dream beginning the fourth quarter with Reese, Howard and Canada on four, while every starter from both teams finished with at least three fouls.
Washington cut the deficit to single digits heading into the fourth quarter, continued to drive the lane and force foul calls, then hit 24 of 28 free-throw attempts, which helped offset their 38% shooting percentage from the field.
However, despite their efforts, The Mystics could not outsmart Atlanta, who are known for their rebounding prowess in the regular season, though the board advantage heavily favoured Iriafen, who helped her side out-rebound The Dream 42-27.
Sports247 recalls that Iriafen grew up in Los Angeles in a Nigerian-American family and played basketball for Harvard-Westlake School, with which she was a two-time Los Angeles Daily News Player of the Year and was named a McDonald’s All-American as a senior.
She played college basketball at Stanford and USC, following which she was selected fourth overall by Washington Mystics in the 2025 WNBA draft and emerged in the All-Star team during her rookie season, then was drafted by Phantom BC for the 2026 Unrivaled season.
Iriafen made her debut United States senior team start on March 12, 2026, recording 10 points and five rebounds during a 91-48 win over Puerto Rico in the FIBA World Cup qualification tournament, then went on to feature at the global championship itself.
She was in USA’s gold-medal-winning team at the recent 2026 FIBA Women’s World Cup in Berlin, Germany, following her addition to the national team roster in August alongside her Washington Mystics teammate, Sonia Citron as replacements for ill A’ja Wilson and Kelsey Plum.
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