Women’s NCAA Tournament roundup: Iowa cruises past Holy Cross 91-65 as Caitlin Clark scores 27
IOWA CITY, Iowa — Caitlin Clark struggled to make shots early, but finished with 27 points and 10 assists as Iowa defeated Holy Cross 91-65 in a women’s NCAA tournament first-round game Saturday.
Kate Martin also had a double-double with 15 points and 14 rebounds for the Hawkeyes (30-4), the top seed in the Albany 2 Regional. Iowa advanced to Monday’s second round to face eighth seed West Virginia.
Clark, a unanimous Associated Press All-American selection, was just 8 of 19 from the field, 3 of 9 in 3-pointers, showing her frustration with missed shots multiple times during the game.
Clark finished with her 65th career double-double, and added eight rebounds.
She got off to a slow start and didn’t make her first field goal until 22 seconds were left in the first quarter. She committed five turnovers in the first eight minutes.
Iowa had a similar start. The Hawkeyes had a 10-0 run midway through the first quarter that didn’t bother the Crusaders, who were within 23-21 at the end of the quarter.
The Hawkeyes then outscored Holy Cross 25-9 in the second quarter, holding the Crusaders to just 1 of 12 shooting. Clark finally got her first 3-pointer with 3:26 left in the first half, shaking her head and rolling her eyes after making the shot.
Holy Cross (21-13) made 12 3-pointers in Thursday’s 72-45 First Four win over UT-Martin, but were just 7 of 34 in 3-pointers in this game, with only three in the second half. The Crusaders, who missed their first 10 shots of the fourth quarter, shot just 32.4% from the field.
NO. 2 NOTRE DAME 81, NO. 15 KENT STATE 67
SOUTH BEND, Indiana — Sonia Citron scored 29 points and Hannah Hidalgo added a double-double with 14 points and 11 assists to help No. 2-seed Notre Dame beat 15th-seeded Kent State.
Citron was 13 of 20 from the field while Hidalgo added six steals for the Irish (27-6), who play Monday in the second round.
Katie Shumate led Kent State (21-11) with 20 points while Janae Tyler scored 18.
A relentless defensive effort in the first quarter set a dominating tone for Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish used an 18-0 run on the way to building a 22-5 lead, harassing Kent State into a stretch of 0-for-13 shooting.
NO. 4 INDIANA 89, NO. 13 FAIRFIELD 56
BLOOMINGTON, Indiana — Sara Scalia scored 27 points to lead fourth-seeded Indiana to a victory over No. 13 Fairfield on in the first round of the women’s NCAA tournament.
Scalia sank five of the Hoosiers’ 10 3-pointers. Yarden Garzon, Chloe Moore-McNeil and Mackenzie Holmes each scored 13 points for the Hoosiers.
The Hoosiers (25-5) will face No. 5 seed Oklahoma on Monday night.
Fairfield (31-2) saw its 29-game winning streak come to an end. Janelle Brown led the Stags, who earned the first Top 25 ranking in school history earlier this month, with 19 points.
NO. 5 OKLAHOMA 73, NO. 12 FLORIDA GULF COAST 70
BLOOMINGTON, Indiana — Skylar Vann scored 24 points and fifth-seeded Oklahoma held off No. 12 seed Florida Gulf Coast.
Oklahoma (23-9) will face No. 4 seed Indiana (25-5) in the second round Monday night.
Payton Verhulst gave the Sooners a 72-70 lead on a turnaround jumper in the paint with 48 seconds left. After an Eagles turnover, Vann hit one of two free throws with 15 seconds left to push the Sooners’ lead to 73-70.
Dolly Cairns 3-point shot was blocked by Vann with 3 seconds left. The Eagles got the rebound with a second left. Uju Ezeudu missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer that would have tied it.
Sahara Williams scored 14 and Verhulst added 11 for the Sooners.
Emani Jefferson led Florida Gulf Coast (29-5) with 22 points and 12 rebounds. Jefferson was 8-of-22 from the field. Brylee Bartram scored 14 points and Cairns added 10 for the Eagles.
NO. 7 MISSISSIPPI 67, NO, 10 MARQUETTE 55
SOUTH BEND, Indiana — Madison Scott scored 20 points and No. 7 Mississippi used a late run to beat 10th-seeded Marquette in the first round of the women’s NCAA Tournament.
Ole Miss (24-8) takes on the host No. 2 Seed Fighting Irish (27-6) on Monday.
Kennedy Todd-Williams added 15 points and seven rebounds for the Rebels. Tyia Singleton had 12 points and Kharyssa Richardson scored 10.
Liza Karlen led Marquette (23-9) with a double-double, scoring 19 points and grabbing 14 rebounds. Rose Nkumu scored 18 points, and Mackenzie Hare had 10 points.
Scott’s drive to the hoop with 7:22 left in the game gave Ole Miss an eight-point lead at 55-47.
NO. 2 UCLA 84, NO. 15 CALIFORNIA BAPTIST 55
LOS ANGELES — Kiki Rice scored 20 points, Gabriela Jaquez added 17 and second-seeded UCLA cruised to a victory over California Baptist in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Charisma Osbourne finished with 15 points, 15 rebounds and nine assists. The Bruins (26-6) will face seventh-seeded Creighton (26-5) in the second round Monday for a spot in the Albany 2 Regional. The Bluejays made 15 3-pointers in their 87-73 victory over UNLV.
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