FDU has Cinderella moment but falls to 2-seed Iowa in women's NCAA Tournament
· Yahoo Sports
On the college court that Caitlin Clark called home, the FDU women's basketball team shot 10 three-pointers and put a massive scare into Iowa and the rest of the NCAA tournament Saturday.
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The Knights, seeded No. 15 in the Sacramento region, were resilient and did not back down from No. 2 Iowa on their home floor but lost 58-48 in the first round of the tournament.
The Knights were seeking to be the first No. 15 seed in women's tournament history to reach the second round. No. 2 seeds had won the first 126 matchups with No. 15 seeds since the tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1994.
In fact, teams seeded in the top three of their regional had been all but invincible historically. The only time that a team seeded No. 14 through 16 won a first round game came in 1998, when Harvard defeated No. 1 Stanford as a No. 16 seed.
FDU remained close with the Hawkeyes throughout the afternoon, trailing by one at halftime and being within two points after the third quarter. The Knights trailed by eight points with 7:51 to go before FDU cut back into the game. Kailee McDonald had five points, a steal, a rebound and an assist to cut the lead to 44-43 with 6:24 to go.
Iowa was uncharacteristically cold from the three-point line, but dominated in the paint. Sophomore center Ava Heiden had a career-best 29 points and seven rebounds for Iowa, which advances to face Virginia in the second round on March 23.
FDU finishes the season with a 30-5 record, setting a school record in wins, after winning the Northeast Conference tournament for the second straight season on March 15. FDU will wait another year to try and win its first tournament game and try to become the first Northeast Conference team to reach the Round of 32.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: FDU falls in women's NCAA Tournament to Iowa in March Madness