Caitlin Clark had 27 points and 10 assists in an off-shooting night.
Caitlin Clark is a self-described perfectionist.
So when things weren’t going her way early in No. 1 seed Iowa’s NCAA Tournament opening, she became frustrated.
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On an off-shooting night, the unanimous All-American finished with 27 points and 10 assists as the Hawkeyes upset Holy Cross 91-65 in the first round of the NCAA tournament for women on Saturday.
She shot just 8 of 19 from the field and 3 of 9 from three, demonstrating her aggravation with missed shots throughout the game. She was continually whining to officials, and at one point, cameras captured her father Brent begging her to stop.
Clark appeared to get the message.
I should probably grin more. “I’m a competitor,” Clark remarked, head-butting the basketball in fury throughout the game. “I love this game. I am a perfectionist. But hey, I am competitive. I want to win, and I want our team to play their best basketball.
I should probably grin more. I am a competitor.
Caitlin Clark recorded her 65th career double-double and added eight rebounds.
Clark struggled early, missing her first field goal until 22 seconds remained in the first quarter. She had five turnovers in the first eight minutes and was hit in the nose by Holy Cross’ Bronagh Power-Cassidy, who was called for an intentional foul.
Watching some women’s basketball…or WWE?#NCAAMarchMadness #Iowa #CaitlinClark #Saturday pic.twitter.com/idx5Kfe8zH
— The Modern Patriot (sir/lord/master) (@NovusPatriota) March 23, 2024
“It was kind of just a stinger to the nose,” Clark recalled. “Honestly, I’m totally OK.”
Iowa experienced its own slow start. The Hawkeyes went on a 10-0 run midway through the first quarter, but the Crusaders remained within 23-21 at the end of the first.
Iowa has not played since winning the Big Ten Tournament championship on March 10, and coach Lisa Bluder said the long layoff was obvious.
“I think in the first quarter we showed a little rust,” Bluder told the media.
Kate Martin had a double-double with 15 points and 14 rebounds for the Hawkeyes (30-4), who will face either eighth-seeded West Virginia or ninth-seeded Princeton in the second round on Monday.
“I think we had to knock some rust off,” Martin remarked. “I think we knew what we needed to do, and that was (play) defense.”
On to the next! @addiogrady22 x #Hawkeyes pic.twitter.com/wQrWurmWbg
— Iowa Women's Basketball (@IowaWBB) March 23, 2024
The Hawkeyes then outscored Holy Cross 25-9 in the second quarter, limiting the Crusaders to 1 of 12 shooting. Clark made her first 3-pointer with 3:26 left in the first half, tossing her head and rolling her eyes after the shot.
“Our 3-point defense was really good, and that’s a key for us,” Bluder went on to say.
“We really started running our offense in the second quarter,” said Clark, who had only one turnover in the last three quarters.
The Hawkeyes’ largest lead was 84-53 with 4 1/2 minutes to go.
Holy Cross (21-13) made 12 3-pointers in Thursday’s 72-45 First Four victory over UT-Martin, but they were only 7 of 34 in this game, with three coming in the second half. The Crusaders, who missed their first ten attempts in the fourth quarter, shot only 32.4% from the field.
Holy Cross coach Maureen Magarity stated that her team was unaffected by playing in front of a sellout crowd of 14,324.
“I just can’t put into words how proud I was of our fight,” she said. “We were trying to bring it to them. We actually were.”
Iowa’s Addison O’Grady scored 14 points on 7 of 9 shooting, while Gabbie Marshall added 11 points. Iowa held a 50-37 rebounding advantage despite starting forward Hannah Stuelke, the team’s second highest rebounder, playing only 10 minutes.
“She didn’t feel well,” Bluder said about Stuelke, who missed both of her attempts and had only two rebounds. “And it wasn’t worth having her out there if we didn’t need her.”
Power-Cassidy led Holy Cross with 19 points. Janelle Allen had eighteen.
“We wanted to go out playing our style of basketball,” Power-Cassidy explained. “Regardless of the stage, this was how we were going to play.”
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