IOWA CITY, Iowa – The top-seeded Iowa women’s basketball team advanced to Round 32 of the NCAA Tournament after defeating 16-seeded Holy Cross, 91-65, on Saturday afternoon inside a sold-out Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
Four Hawkeyes scored in double figures as Caitlin Clark led the way with 27 points, 10 assists, and eight rebounds. Kate Martin added 15 points with 14 rebounds. Addi O’Grady finished with 14 points and Gabbie Marshall downed three three-pointers to add 11.
Holy Cross stuck with the Hawkeyes through the first five minutes of the game with four lead changes and two ties. Iowa pulled away going up by nine with 2:32 left to play in the first, until the Crusaders went on a 10-3 run to end the first bringing the score to 23-21 going into the second.
The Hawkeyes came out hot in the second going on a 10-0 run. The Hawkeye defense held the Crusaders to only nine points in the second to go into halftime with a 48-30 lead. Clark led the half with 13 points and Martin added 11.
The game was played evenly in the second half. The Hawkeyes scored over 20 points in every quarter, and every available Iowa player contributed minutes to secure its first round win to advance for the ninth time out the last 10 NCAA Tournaments.
POSTGAME NOTES
– Iowa has won 30+ games for only the second time in school history. (2022-23)
– Iowa has made 49 three-point baskets in postseason play.
– Since 2019, the Hawkeyes are 12-4 in the NCAA Tournament.
– Over the last two seasons, Iowa is 16-2 in a tournament setting.
– Lisa Bluder notched her 880th career victory.
– Bluder has the 10th most wins in Division-I women’s basketball history and is third among active DI head coaches.
– Bluder is 19-17 all-time in NCAA Tournaments at Iowa.
– Iowa is 3-2 all-time in the NCAA Tournament as a No. 1 Seed.
– It was Clark’s 64th career double-double she is third on the Big Ten’s all-time list.
– Over the last two seasons, Iowa has won 61 games which is the best two-year stretch in program history.
– Iowa broke the Big Ten’s single season record for 3-pointers made which was set by Iowa (350) a season ago. They Hawkeyes have made 368 treys this season.
– Kate Martin registered her fifth double-double of the season and seventh of her career.
– Iowa is 5-0 this season when Martin records a double-double.
– Martin notched her second-most rebounds in her career. (14)
– Addi O’Grady notched 14 points (7-9 FG), five rebounds and a block.
– Gabbie Marshall is 19-of-39 in her last five games from 3-point range.
– Marshall (161) and Martin (159) are eyeing Monika Czinano’s games played record. (162)
– Among active players who didn’t transfer, Marshall (125) and Martin (122) are third and fourth nationally for most active wins in a career.
– Clark leads the country in 20+ point games this season with 34.
– Clark is the only player in the country with 1,000+ points, 300+ assists, and 240+ rebounds this season.
– Since the start of the 2020-21 season, Iowa leads the nation with 105 games of 80+ points.
– UI has scored 80 or more points a nation’s-best 28 times this season.
– Iowa leads the Big Ten with 25 games of 90+ points this season.
– The country’s best offense has record 90+ points in 14 out of the last 16 games.
– Clark has scored 20+ points in 119-of-134 career games which is the most in program history.
– Clark kept her streak alive of 91 consecutive games making a 3-point basket. (NCAA best)
– Clark is the first Division-I men’s or women’s player to record 3,700+ points, 1,100+ assists, and 950+ rebounds in a career.
QUOTING P. SUE BECKWITH HEAD COACH LISA BLUDER
I just want to congratulate Maureen and Holy Cross on a really great season. They’ve spent a lot of time here in Carver, they’ve spent as much time in Carver this week as we have, and I think they have really enjoyed their time in Iowa City. They’re just a really tremendous group of people. I thought they were very fundamentally sound. They worked really hard and really it was just a great first-round opponent. Tonight, I thought our first quarter we showed a little rust, but I think we got it going a lot better in the second quarter. I love that we controlled the boards, assists were really good, four people in double figures. I thought Addi O’Grady came off the bench and did some really nice things for us.
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UP NEXT
The Hawkeyes will face the winner of 8-Seed West Virginia/9-Seed Princeton on Monday in Iowa City at 7 p.m. (CT) on ESPN.