The no. 16 Holy Cross women's basketball team will battle no. 1 seed Iowa on Saturday, March 23 in the 2024 NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament First Round at 3 p.m. at the sold out Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa. The contest will be broadcast nationally on ABC with Beth Mowins (play-by-play), Stephanie White (analyst) and Holly Rowe (sidelines) on the call.

WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT #16 HOLY CROSS (21-12, 11-7 PL): 

• The surging Crusaders have won five straight games and seven of their last nine defeating UT Martin 72-45 Thursday night in the NCAA First Four. Senior Cara McCormack posted a career-high 23 points with a personal-best seven triples and seven rebounds in the victory.
• McCormack tied senior Bronagh 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. The program record is eight by Alison Dietz set versus Providence (Jan. 29, 1996).
• Holy Cross matched its season-high in 3-pointers (10) in the first half against UT Martin going 12-of-32 (37.5 percent) in the game.
• Power-Cassidy, the Patriot League Scholar-Athlete of the Year and All-Patriot League first team selection was voted Championship MVP for the second straight year. She averaged 18.3 points, 6.7 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.3 steals per game on 46.5 percent (20-of-43) shooting and 8-of-16 (50%) from range.
• The five game winning streak (March 6-present) is the second longest of the season for the Crusaders as they won nine games (Dec. 17-Jan. 24). During the five game winning streak, Power-Cassidy is averaging a team-high 20.0 points 5.8 rebounds, 2.2 assists, and 1.6 steals per game on 49.3% (37-of-75) shooting and 50.0% (18-of-36) from long distance.
• McCormack has also been hot from deep during that stretch averaging 14.4 points on 50% (18-of-36) 3-point efficiency.
• The conference championship was the 13th in program history for the Crusaders they became the first Patriot League team to win back-to-back titles since Navy's three-peat (2011, 2012, 2013). The victory was their 53rd in the Patriot League Tournament (53-20, .726). Both are league high marks.
• The Crusaders are the lone men's or women's basketball team to represent the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the NCAA Division I Tournament.
• Head coach Maureen Magarity is 72-40 (.643) as head coach of the Crusaders and has the second-highest winning percentage in team annals (Togo Palazzi, 103-28, .786).
• Holy Cross senior Janelle Allen's brother, Brian Allen Jr., is a defensive end on the Iowa football team. Iowa is the host for the First Four/First and Second Rounds in the Albany 2 region.

HOLY CROSS IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT:

• This will be the 14th appearance in the NCAA Tournament for the Crusaders. Holy Cross is 2-13 (.133) in the NCAA Tournament.
• Holy Cross has both of the Patriot League's NCAA women's basketball tournament wins in league history (2-31, .060).

SCOUTING THE #1 HAWKEYES (29-4, 15-3 BIG TEN): 

• The no. 1 seed and no. 2 ranked Iowa Hawkeyes are coming off their third straight Big Ten championship after beating Nebraska 94-89 in overtime on March 10. Caitlin Clark scored a game-high 34 points with 12 assists en route to her third straight Big Ten Tournament MVP. Hannah Stuelke added 25 points in the win.
• Clark recently just became the first player in Iowa women's basketball history to be named a First Team All-American by the Associated Press. Clark, the NCAA's All-Time scoring leader (3,771) paces the nation in scoring (31.9) and assists per game (8.9) in 2023-24. She is also the first Division-I player to tally 3,700+ points, 1,000+ assists and 900+ rebounds in a career.
• As a team, Iowa leads NCAA Division I in scoring (92.8), 3-pointers per game (11.3), and assists per game (21.9) while ranking second in field goal percentage (50.3), fourth in 3-pointers per game (29.6), fourth in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.6), seventh in 3-point percentage (38.2), and seventh in scoring margin (+20.9).

IOWA IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT:

• This is the 30th appearance in the NCAA Tournament for the Hawkeyes. They hold a 32-29 (.525) mark during March Madness.
• Iowa has reached the Final Four twice (1993, 2023) and was the national runner-up last season falling to LSU 102-85 on April 2.

LAST TIME THEY MET: 

• This is the first meeting between the two teams.

IN THE NEWS:

• Holy Cross women's basketball is experiencing the Caitlin Clark Effect firsthand | Boston Globe
• Holy Cross facing tall task of trying to stop Caitlin Clark, Iowa Hawkeyes in NCAA Tournament | WBZ Boston Sports
• What to know about Holy Cross women's basketball as the Crusaders take on No. 1 Iowa | Boston Globe
• Date with Cait as Holy Cross faces Clark, Iowa in NCAA hoop matchup Saturday | Worcester Telegram & Gazette
• Bring on Caitlin: Holy Cross women's hoop upends UT Martin at NCAAs; top-seeded Iowa is next | Worcester Telegram & Gazette

UP NEXT: 

• The winner of this game will face the winner of the no. 8 West Virginia/no. 9 Princeton game on Monday, March 25.

 
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