IOWA CITY, Iowa – The No. 16-seeded Holy Cross women's basketball team rolled to a 72-45 victory over No. 16 UT Martin in the First Four of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday, March 21.
The Crusaders (21-12) will advance to face No. 1 Iowa (29-4) on Saturday, March 23. Tipoff is set for 3 p.m. ET and the game will be nationally televised on ABC.
Holy Cross dominated from beyond the arc, draining a season-high 12 three-pointers (12-of-32, 37.5 percent) Senior
Cara McCormack finished with a career-high 23 points, including a career-best seven three-pointers to go with seven rebounds.
This marks Holy Cross' second NCAA Tournament victory in program history and first since 1991. The two NCAA Tournament wins by the Crusaders are the only two in Patriot League history.
Senior
Bronagh Power-Cassidy added 15 points and was a +32 from the field while classmate
Janelle Allen filled the box score with six points, nine rebounds and a career-high matching seven assists.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- A McCormack deep triple put the Crusaders ahead 8-2 early in the contest. Power-Cassidy and McCormack drilled threes as the Crusaders led 14-6 at the media timeout. Sophomore Kaitlyn Flanagan's connection to Berger grew the lead to 16-6. An Allen jumper at the buzzer moved the Crusaders ahead 22-13 at the end of one.
- A 14-2 start to the second with three straight threes by McCormack and Power-Cassidy advanced the lead to 21, 36-15. McCormack's sixth 3-pointer of the first half reestablished the 21-point halftime lead, 45-22.
- In the third, McCormack's 23rd point, a pull-up bucket, opened up a 30-point, 62-32 edge with four seconds left.
- The Crusader lead expanded to a high of 32 multiple times in the fourth stanza.
OUTSIDE THE BOX:
- Holy Cross matched its season-high in 3-pointers (10) in the first half, going 10-of-21 (47.6 percent) from distance.
- McCormack tied Power-Cassidy for the single-game team-high for the season with seven threes, which is also tied for the second-most during a single game in program history.
- Flanagan has recorded four or more assists 32 times in her career. The Crusaders are 24-8 (.750) in those games.
- Since head coach Maureen Magarity arrived in Worcester, Holy Cross is 64-6 (.914) when holding opponents under 60 points in a game. When leading at halftime, Magarity's teams are 59-7 (.864).
- Holy Cross allowed only one 3-pointer during the game for the third time this year (1-of-19). UT Martin was 5.3 percent from deep which is the lowest total of the season.
POSTGAME MATERIALS:
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