Iowa Hawkeyes ‘knock the rust off’ in NCAA tournament opener, knock Holy Cross out, 91-65

IOWA CITY — Of course, they wouldn’t want to tempt fate with this for an extended period of time.

But for two magic minutes — One Shining Moment? — the Iowa Hawkeyes played their best ball of the day with their superstar on the bench.

“Sometimes, our offense ... we pass a little better with Caitlin (Clark) on the bench,” Iowa Coach Lisa Bluder said. “People stepped up in that stretch.”

That stretch, a 10-0 gem late in the first quarter, sprung Iowa out of a small early hole, and the second-ranked Hawkeyes subdued Holy Cross, 91-65, in the first round of the NCAA women’s basketball tournament before a sellout crowd of 14,324 Saturday afternoon at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

“We knocked the rust off,” Kate Martin said after the Hawkeyes (30-4) played their first game in 13 days. “We’re not super-pleased. Our defense wasn’t there for four quarters.

“But at this time of year, it’s survive and advance.”

Iowa broke it open with a 25-9 second quarter that forged an 18-point halftime lead. The Hawkeyes led by as many as 30 points in the fourth quarter, and move on to face West Virginia (25-7) — a 63-53 winner over Princeton — in the second round at 7 p.m. Monday (ESPN).

The winner advances to the Sweet 16 next week at Albany, N.Y.

Martin supplied a double-double (15 points and 14 rebounds) to complement a typical Clark stat line (27 points, eight rebounds, 10 assists).

And Addison O’Grady came off the bench in to tally 14 points on 7-of-9 shooting.

“I’m just excited to provide any help I can,” said O’Grady, who got most of the second-half post minutes in Hannah Stuelke’s absence (headache).

“You never really know. You always have to stay ready.”

A 27-point winner over Tennessee-Martin in a First Four game here Thursday, Holy Cross (21-13) hung around for a while and led 11-10 on Bronagh Power-Cassidy’s first 3-pointer.

“I don’t think there was any reason to be intimidated,” Holy Cross’ Janelle Allen said. “Nervous is one thing, intimidated was another.”

Clark exited briefly, and the Hawkeyes surged.

Gabbie Marshall nailed a 3-pointer and O’Grady scored back-to-back buckets to put the Hawkeyes in front, 20-11.

Marshall’s 11 points gave the Hawkeyes a fourth double-figure scorer.

“When Gabbie is on, it lights a fire under our butts,” Martin said.

Power-Cassidy nailed three more 3-pointers to bring the Crusaders within 23-21 by the end of the quarter, but they could muster only one field goal (in 12 attempts) in the second period, and Iowa took a 48-30 lead into the locker room.

“The first quarter, we showed a little rust,” Bluder said. “The second quarter, we got going better.”

Power-Cassidy led the Crusaders with 19 points, 17 in the first half. Allen added 18 points.

The Hawkeyes showed rust at times, and Clark exhibited frustration in certain instances. The ABC telecast caught her complaining after a call, and then panned to her father, Brent Clark, who told her, “Stop!”

Another time, Clark bonked the ball off of her own head after a play.

“I could have smiled more,” she said. “I expect us to be really good all of the time.”

The Hawkeyes were good enough.

“I’m happy,” Bluder said. “I’m never going to complain after a 26-point victory.”

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A good preliminary done, the real NCAA tourney starts for the Hawkeyes Monday

Iowa 91, Holy Cross 65

NCAA Tournament First Round, at Iowa City

HOLY CROSS (65): Callie Wright 0-3 1-2 1, Janelle Allen 6-14 6-10 18, Kaitlyn Flanagan 1-4 1-2 3, Bronagh Power Cassidy 6-14 3-3 19, Cara McCormack 4-16 0-0 11, Simone Foreman 2-8 1-1 5, Lindsay Berger 1-3 2-2 4, Grace Munt 0-0 0-0 0, Meg Cahalan 0-2 0-0 0, Mary-Elizabeth Donnelly 1-3 0-0 2, Hannah Griffin 0-0 0-0 0, Lauren Huber 0-0 0-0 0, Janie Bachmann 0-0 0-0 0, Simone Lewis 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 22-68 14-20 65,

IOWA (91): Hannah Stuelke 0-2 0-0 0, Sydney Affolter 3-6 2-2 9, Kate Martin 4-9 5-7 15, Caitlin Clark 8-19 8-9 27, Gabbie Marshall 3-7 2-4 11, Kylie Feuerbach 1-5 1-2 3, Addison O’Grady 7-9 0-2 14, Taylor McCabe 1-5 0-0 3, A.J. Ediger 2-2 0-0 4, Jada Gyamfi 0-0 0-0 0, Sharon Goodman 2-3 1-1 5. Totals 31-67 19-27 91.

Holy Cross 21 9 20 15 — 65

Iowa 23 25 23 20 — 91

3-point goals: Holy Cross 7-34 (Allen 0-2, Flanagan 0-2, Power-Cassidy 4-10, McCormack 3-12, Foreman 0-5, Cahalan 0-2, Donnelly 0-1), Iowa 10-32 (Affolter 1-3, Martin 2-5, Clark 3-9, Marshall 3-7, Feuerbach 0-3, McCabe 1-5). Team fouls: Holy Cross 19, Iowa 16. Fouled out: none. Rebounds: Holy Cross 37 (Wright 7), Iowa 50 (Martin 14). Assists: Holy Cross 15 (three with 3), Iowa 21 (Clark 10). Steals: Holy Cross 8 (Power-Cassidy 3), Iowa 11 (Clark 3). Turnovers: Holy Cross 13, Iowa 14.

Attendance: 14,324.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com