By Tyler Devine

IOWA CITY, Iowa – The Iowa women’s basketball team was almost on the wrong side of history on Friday, but senior center Megan Gustafson refused to allow that to happen.

The Hawkeyes overcame a 24-3 turnover deficit, including 17 in the first half to pull out an emotional 66-61 victory of No. 15 seed Mercer and avoided becoming the first No. 2 seed to lose in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Going into Friday, 15th-seeded teams were 0-100 in the NCAA Tournament against second-seeded teams.

The win also gave Iowa’s senior class its first NCAA Tournament victory.

The Hawkeyes will now play Missouri on Sunday for a chance to reach the Sweet 16 for the second time under head coach Lisa Bluder.

Missouri is coached by Robin Pingeton, who played for Bluder at St. Ambrose from 1986-1990.

“I think these kinds of games brings out the emotion in a lot of us,” Senior center Megan Gustafson said. “I just have to thank my teammates. They’ve been doing a good job of getting everyone fired up too. It’s not just me getting everyone going, we’re all in this together.

“It was a fun game. We just survive and advance and that’s all that matters.”

With Iowa leading 64-61 with 16.7 seconds left, senior guard Tania Davis missed a pair of free throws but forced a tie up in the ensuing scramble for the ball to give Iowa the ball with 13.1 seconds left.

Iowa took a 35-27 lead to halftime thanks to junior guard Makenzie Meyer’s fourth three-point basket of the first half.

The 24 turnovers were a season high for Iowa and the only time this season it surpassed 20 turnovers.

“It’s unfortunate because we’re better post passers than that,” Bluder said. “And we know, we kept talking about using back fakes and not holding the ball above our heads. It’s just funny that we resorted to some of those things but we’ll be better on Sunday.

Gustafson scored 19 of her 30 points in the first half and was 14-for-16 shooting from the field for the game. She also added 16 rebounds to record her 86^th career double-double.

Gustafson also set the Big Ten single-season records for points and rebounds.

Mercer took its first lead of the game 51-50 as time ran out in the third quarter.

After being outrebounded 11-7 in the third quarter, including eight on the offensive glass by Mercer, Iowa 15-6 advantage on the boards in the fourth quarter to help it cling to the lead.

"Yeah, our emphasis was on getting stops on defense," Gustafson said. "I think it's really important to do that at those times and really get those extra possessions on those rebounds. We weren't doing a really good job boxing out in the third quarter, especially, so we really emphasized on pushing back and then on offense, I kind of knew that I needed to take over, and so just demanding the ball, making sure I can get myself in the best position possible."

The Bears took a 56-52 lead after a Meyer turnover and a KeKe Calloway three-pointer with 6:58 left to play.

Gustafson scored Iowa’s next five points, including a traditional three-point play to put Iowa back up 57-56 with 4:52 left to play.

Senior forward Hannah Stewart also was a key contributor for the Hawkeyes, particularly in the second half.

Stewart struggled in the first half but scored eight of her 12 points in the final two periods and also finished with 11 rebounds.

Stewart's most important bucket came with 2:24 left in the fourth quarter when she caught a bullet pass from junior guard Kathleen Doyle on a fast break to extend Iowa's lead to 62-59.

The 6-foot-2 Stewart credited the announced crowd of 10,270 with giving her team the extra push that it needed to pull out a victory.

"Having our crowd behind us was definitely an advantage," Stewart said. "They were like out sixth man out there. We're just so thankful and we know we're so lucky to be playing at home in front of all the great Hawk fans."