Belmont women's basketball advances to WBIT championship, will face Minnesota
The Belmont women's basketball team extended its longest season in history Monday, earning a berth in the Women's Basketball Invitation Tournament championship after knocking off Villanova 66-57 in the semifinals.
The win came at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis and sent the No. 3 seed Bruins into the final against No. 2 Minnesota (24-11), which beat Florida 66-52 in the other semifinal Monday.
The championship game, which also will be at Hinkle, is scheduled for 5 p.m. CT Wednesday and broadcast on ESPN2.
"I don't think we've used the term 'survive and advance' ever this year," Belmont coach Bart Brooks said. "We hear it. It's what's said at this time of the year. But for us, we're more like, 'Let's just make this thing last as long as we can because we love what we're doing.' "
Belmont (26-12) played in the NCAA tournament in six of the previous eight seasons, reaching the second round in 2021 and 2022. This is the Bruins' second straight season in the WBIT. They lost to Penn State in the second round in 2023-24.
Villanova was the WBIT runner-up in 2023-24, where it lost to Illinois.
Guards Jailyn Banks from Middle Tennessee Christian School, and Kendall Holmes, a South Dakota transfer, proved to be too much for No. 4 seed Villanova (21-15), which was unable to handle their ability to drive to the basket. Banks scored a career-high 25 points and Holmes added 14.
After Villanova took a 40-38 lead midway through the third quarter, the Bruins picked up their defensive intensity and started coming up with more loose balls. They finished with eight steals and scored 14 points off turnovers.
"We focus a lot on being aggressive and winning those 50-50 possessions," Banks said. "Bart talks a lot about it's just one possession at a time. We don't have to win the game with one possession, but the small possessions and making those hustle plays, that's what helps down the stretch."
Villanova managed to hang around and cut Belmont's lead to six in the fourth quarter, when Vanderbilt transfer Kendal Cheesman nailed a 3-pointer with 2:21 left, giving the Bruins their biggest lead at 63-54.
Cheesman finished with 11 points and a game-high 10 rebounds, and senior Tuti Jones had 10 points.
Maddie Webber led Villanova with 18 points and Jasmine Bascoe was the Wildcats' only other double-figure scorer with 10.
"The whole game, they were consistent with their intensity and I think we were up and down at times, which obviously doesn't help," Webber said. "That was the biggest thing in the game."
Belmont had won nine of its previous 10 games heading into the semifinals. It defeated Middle Tennessee State (64-51); Northern Arizona (81-80); and James Madison (90-45) in the first three rounds of the tournament.
Reach Mike Organ at 615-259-8021 or on X @MikeOrganWriter.