Kiki Iriafen tops teammate Sonia Citron for ROTM honor, then shares her true feelings

Washington Mystics rookie Kiki Iriafen has been one of the best young players in the WNBA. After the first month of the new season, Iriafen's efforts were recognized by the league as she was named Rookie of the Month for May.

The former USC star averaged 13.9 points and 10.1 rebounds and had four double-doubles during the seven games that month. The youngster made history by becoming the first player for the Mystics to be named Rookie of the Month.

Iriafen won the award over her teammate, Sonia Citron, who has also been excellent. Washington selected Citron with the third overall pick, one pick ahead of Iriafen.

During her first seven games, Citron averaged 14.3 points, four rebounds and two assists on 47.2 percent shooting.

On her Instagram stories on Wednesday, the 21-year-old forward reacted to her winning the award.

"AGTG 🙏🏿," she wrote, an acronym for "All glory to god."

Iriafan was thankful for receiving the Rookie of the Month award.

On Tuesday, Iriafen got her June off to a great start by helping the Mystics to an 85-76 win against the Caitlin Clark-less Indiana Fever. She flirted with a double-double, recording a season-high 20 points on 9-for-11 shooting with nine rebounds.

Kiki Iriafen is one of only six players to put up at least 10 points and 10 rebounds in their first seven games in the WNBA. Some of the players who had the same achievement were Tina Charles, Candace Parker, and Yolanda Griffith.

Kiki Iriafen talked about winning the award

Kiki Iriafen has started her career on a high note by winning Rookie of the Month honors. In an interview with the Washington Post's Kareem Copeland, the Mystics forward talked about what it's like to be recognized by the league.

“It’s just so validating that my hard work has paid off. From the day I got drafted to the Mystics, I just put my head down, like, I’m going to work, whatever that might look like for this team. All I can say is I’m just giving my best effort every single time that I’m playing and it’s nice to see the fruits of your labor come to fruition, even though it’s still early.”

Kiki Iriafen also didn't have any idea that there was a Rookie of the Month award. According to her talk with Copeland, she thought that only the Rookie of the Year award was given to first-year players.