South Shore product Megan Gustafson scored 30 points on 14-for-16 shooting and pulled down 16 rebounds, and No. 2 seed Iowa escaped with a 66-61 win over No. 15 seed Mercer on Friday in an NCAA tournament first-round game in Iowa City, Iowa.
Makenzie Meyer added 16 points for Iowa (27-6), which trailed by as many as four points in the fourth quarter before recovering. The Hawkeyes advanced to play seventh-seeded Missouri (23-10) on Sunday, also in Iowa City. The Tigers beat 10th-seeded Drake 77-76.
Keke Calloway scored 21 points to lead Mercer (25-8), which had its 17-game win streak ended. Amanda Thompson added 18 points and a game-high six steals for the Bears.
Mercer grabbed a four-point lead when Calloway made a 3-pointer with 6:58 to go in the fourth quarter. But Iowa regrouped with a 5-0 run to regain a 57-56 lead with 4:52 remaining.
Calloway struck again with a 3-pointer to put Mercer ahead 59-57 on the next possession. The Hawkeyes battled back with a 5-0 run to pull in front 62-59 with 2:24 to play.
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Gustafson, who was named ESPNW player of the year earlier this week, set an NCAA tournament record of 13 consecutive made field goals and matched the mark for highest shooting percentage (87.5) in the past 20 years.
The 6-foot-3 senior set Big Ten single-season marks for points (927) and rebounds (440) this season.
WNIT
Minnesota 91, Northern Iowa 75
With four players in double figures, the Gophers defeated the Panthers in the opening round of the Women's National Invitation Tournament on Friday night at Williams Arena in Minneapolis.
Minnesota now goes on the road to face Cincinnati (22-10) at 2 p.m. Sunday in the second round.
Gophers sophomore Destiny Pitts led all scorers with 29 points, her eighth straight game with at least 20 points. She was 10-of-16 from the floor, 5-of-10 from 3-point range and made all four free-throw attempts.
Senior Kenisha Bell also reached the 20-point plateau with 22 points and a career-high 12 assists for her fifth double-double of the season. She also had seven rebounds and a pair of steals.
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Freshman Mercedes Staples made her first career start and responded with a career-high 14 points. Junior Taiye Bello added 17 points to go with five rebounds.
