IOWA CITY — It wasn’t the start to March Madness that Iowa or Caitlin Clark wanted, but in a month of survive-and-advance, the Hawkeyes did just that in a 91-65 win over Holy Cross in their NCAA Tournament first-round game Saturday.

“I think the first quarter kind of frustrated maybe all of us in a way,” Clark said. “I feel like this is a game you want to come out and dominate from the start because this is what fuels your run. Like coach (Lisa Bluder) said, I think maybe we played with a little bit of rust.”

It had been 13 days since the Hawkeyes had hoisted the conference trophy after the Big Ten Tournament title game, and that nearly two-week break looked particularly evident early on as No. 1-seed Iowa simply couldn’t shake No. 16-seed Holy Cross.

The Crusaders came out with a physical, aggressive defense that packed the paint and gave the Hawkeyes early trouble. As a team, Iowa shot the ball well in that opening quarter — 46 percent from the floor, including hitting 3 of 5 shots from beyond the arc — but Iowa’s six turnovers (which Holy Cross turned into seven points) negated any kind of a potential early lead that hot shooting could’ve built.

By the second quarter, Iowa began to settle into form, got some consecutive defensive stops and cleaned up the…