Mizzou women’s basketball season ends at Iowa

For the third time in four years, Mizzou’s women’s basketball team has seen its season end in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

The Tigers lost 68-52 at No. 8 Iowa on Sunday.

Mizzou (24-11) led 25-18 early in the second quarter, MU’s largest lead of the game. Iowa countered with a 12-0 run, and led 33-29 at halftime.

An Amber Smith basket in the third quarter tied the game for the final time at 39. The Tigers went cold from there, shooting just 4-18 on threes in the second half.

Smith, a junior, was the only Tiger in double figures, scoring 21 points. She also had nine rebounds and four assists.

Sophie Cunningham, in her final career game, dealt with foul trouble early and only managed eight points. She was 2-9 on threes. Cunningham finishes with 2,187 career points, the most in Mizzou history.

Cunningham and Cierra Porter finish as the only Tigers to ever win three NCAA women’s tournament games in their careers. Porter scored nine points against Iowa.

Forward Megan Gustafson, the ESPNW national player of the year, had 24 points and 19 rebounds for Iowa (28-6). She leads the nation in scoring (28 ppg), and became the all-time leading career rebounder in Big Ten Conference history on Sunday.