No. 1 Seed Iowa Struggling To Pull Away From Holy Cross
IOWA CITY, IOWA- MARCH 3: Guard Caitlin Clark #22 of the Iowa Hawkeyes is applauded during the second half after a basket against the Ohio State Buckeyes at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on March 3, 2024 in Iowa City, Iowa. (Photo by Matthew Holst/Getty Images)
Iowa is a popular pick to win the women's NCAA Tournament, but they're getting all they can handle early in their first round matchup against No. 16 seed Holy Cross.
The Hawkeyes have opened the game with a slow start against the Crusaders, and they've struggled to pull away from the lower-seeded tea in the first half.
Iowa led by only two points at the end of the first quarter, causing some to raise their eyebrows regarding a potentially massive upset in the first round of the tournament.
This is Caitlin Clark's final NCAA Tournament, as the superstar Iowa player has already declared for the 2024 WNBA Draft.
She's widely expected to go No. 1 overall in that draft to the Indiana Fever, where she would join another college standout in former South Carolina star Aliyah Boston.
Iowa is looking to win the national title after making it all the way to the title game last year, where they fell to LSU.
A national championship in 2024 would be the first in the program's history and would be a storybook ending for Clark after an incredible college career.
A No. 16 seed has only defeated a No. 1 seed in the women's NCAA Tournament once, when Harvard defeated No. 1 seed Stanford back in 1998.
It's happened twice in the men's tournament, most recently in 2023 with Fairleigh Dickinson's win over top-seeded Purdue.
The last time a women's No. 16 won involved a smaller school from the northeast defeating a powerhouse team expected to make the Final Four.
Could history repeat itself on Saturday?
