“Love you forever”: USC’s Kiki Iriafen posts sweet message for former teammate’s special day

USC star Kiki Iriafen dropped a sweet message to celebrate her former teammate, Eleni Bosgana, on her birthday. Bosgana turned 21 on Wednesday, and Iriafen posted a photo collage of the two on her Instagram story.

"Happy Birthday Eleni!!! Love you forever!!" Iriafen captioned the post.

USC forward Kiki Iriafen celebrates teammate, Eleni Bosgana on her birthday. IG photo source via @kikiiriafen

Both Iriafen and Bosgana were teammates at Stanford, where they enjoyed a stellar season together. Iriafen averaged 19.4 points, 11.0 rebounds and 2.3 assists in her junior year campaign with the Cardinal before leaving for USC.

Kiki Iriafen and JuJu Watkins make USC history in win over Saint Louis

Kiki Iriafen teamed with JuJu Watkins to lead sixth-ranked USC to a 104-65 victory against Saint Louis on Friday in the Acrisure Holiday Invitational. The duo became the first USC teammates to score 30 points each in the same game since Lisa Leslie and Tammy Story in 1990.

Iriafen scored 30 points, including a perfect 12-for-12 from the free throw line, while Watkins finished with 34 points, marking her 15th career 30-point game. Both players' accomplishments mirrored Leslie, who scored 30 points alongside Story’s 36 in Leslie’s freshman debut in 1990 against Texas.

“To have two dominant scorers on the floor and a team playing with a lot of togetherness was a good formula for us,” USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb said, per 247sports.com. “We’re going to keep trying to do that.”

The Trojans had a shaky first half, leading 46-39 at the break. However, they exploded with a 37-point lead in the third quarter as Watkins and Iriafen combined for 19 points.

“We came out of halftime with a point to prove,” Gottlieb said. “It was more about getting back to ourselves and how we wanted to attack their zone.”

Iriafen credited the free throws as what helped her finish with massive numbers against Saint Louis.

“I think free throws – it’s easy buckets,” Iriafen said. “It’s probably the easiest shot I’ll get all night, so I’ve been honing in on that.”

USC also made contributions from the bench as Howell scored 11 points on a perfect 3-of-3 game, and Talia von Oelhoffen, who hit two key 3-pointers in the third quarter, finished with 13 points.

Next, the Trojans open Big Ten play against No. 21 Oregon on Saturday.