INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – A valiant fourth-quarter effort came up just short in the 2025 Women's Basketball Invitation Tournament (WBIT) championship game Wednesday evening inside historic Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis as the Belmont University women's basketball team fell to the University of Minnesota, 75-63. The third-seeded Bruins, who complete their program-record 39-game season at 26-13, put together a promising 22-8 scoring run in the final quarter to climb within eight after trailing by as much as 24 in the second half.
Sophomore guard Jailyn Banks, who finished with a team-high 17 points, scored 11 of Belmont's 24 fourth-quarter points. Graduate guard Tuti Jones and freshman guard Sanaa Tripp combined for 21 second-half points as the Bruins outscored the second-seeded Golden Gophers (25-11) 40-38 across the closing 20 minutes.
Minnesota freshman guard Tori McKinney accounted for 19 of the Golden Gophers' 37 points in the first half with Belmont shooting just 33.3 percent (9-of-27) during the first 20 minutes of action.
The Bruins began 3-for-13 (23.1 percent) from the field and 1-for-7 from beyond the arc, falling behind 18-8 after the first quarter of play. Belmont trailed 11-2 five minutes in and made only one field goal in the opening eight minutes.
Minnesota led by double digits the entirety of the second and third quarters, taking an 18-point lead at 34-16 on a McKinney three-pointer with 4:41 left in the half. Even with the Bruins closing the half on a 7-3 run over the last four-and-a-half minutes, the Golden Gophers led 37-23 at the break.
Behind 57.1 percent (8-of-14) shooting in the second quarter, Minnesota shot 45.5 percent (15-of-33) in the first half.
Belmont was scoreless for the first two-and-a-half minutes of the second half before Jones knocked down a three at the 7:27 mark of the third quarter. The Golden Gophers took their fist 20-point lead on a driving layup by starting point guard Amaya Battle with 6:40 to go in the third and Minnesota went up by 24 at 50-26 on a McKinney fastbreak layup.
Thanks to baskets by the Golden Gophers' Mallory Heyer, the Bruins also faced a 24-point deficit at 55-31 and 58-34 late in the third quarter. Despite Belmont scoring the last five points of the third, Minnesota led 58-39 through three quarters.
The Bruins were limited to 26.7 percent (4-of-15) shooting in the third stanza with three of their four field goals coming from long range. Tripp scored nine in the quarter on 3-for-3 shooting.
Jones trimmed the Golden Gophers' lead to 17 with a jumper in the first minute of fourth quarter before Minnesota extended it back out to 22 at 63-41 with 8:22 left. From there, Belmont went on an impressive 17-4 run over the next five minutes of play.
A Jones triple at the 8:11 mark and a Banks jumper moments later ignited the lengthy scoring run. Senior forward Kendal Cheesman hit a three to get the Bruins within single digits at 67-58 for the first time since the last minute of the opening quarter.
Senior forward Carmyn Harrison made a great read and came up with a steal on a Golden Gopher pass, leading to a great look at a three by Jones that would have made it a six-point affair with 2:50 remaining. After four-straight Minnesota points, 1-for-2 trips to the free-throw line by Tripp and Harrison made it 71-60 with 1:22 to go. The Golden Gophers' Grace Grocholski missed both of her foul shots on Minnesota's ensuing possession and Banks splashed in a wing trey, giving Belmont a chance at 71-63 with 1:13 still to work with.
Down only eight with a minute left, the Bruins were unable to capitalize on the Golden Gophers going 1-for-2 at the free-throw line on their next two possessions. Minnesota's Heyer sealed the game with a pair of free throws with 33 seconds left.
Belmont missed its last five three-point attempts in the final minute.
The Bruins went 5-for-9 from the floor in the fourth quarter and forced six Golden Gopher turnovers while committing none. Banks scored 14 of her 17 in the second half.
Minnesota shot 48 percent (12-of-25) in the second half and was 4-for-10 from distance, while Belmont went 11-for-33 overall from the field and 6-for-23 (26.1 percent) from outside.
The Golden Gophers owned an 11-rebound advantage on the glass (40-29) and outscored the Bruins 26-16 in the paint.
Tripp tied her career high with 13 points on 4-for-8 shooting and was 3-for-5 from downtown. Both Jones and Cheesman finished with 11 points.
Minnesota's McKinney led all scorers with 26 points on 10-for-14 shooting and the Golden Gophers got a double-double of 18 points and 16 rebounds from Heyer. Battle scored 13 of her 17 points in the second half for Minnesota and added seven boards and five assists.
After averaging 21 points on 50 percent (4-of-8) shooting from behind the arc and going 14-for-17 (82.4 percent) at the foul line across the two games in Hinkle Fieldhouse, Banks was named to the WBIT All-Tournament Team.
WBIT All-Tournament Team
Tori McKinney, Minnesota (
Most Outstanding Player)
Amaya Battle, Minnesota
Jailyn Banks, Belmont
Maddie Webber, Villanova
Liv McGill, Florida
Of Note
- Belmont played for its first national postseason title in its 57-year history as a program.
- The WBIT championship game represented Belmont's deepest national postseason run in any sport.
- The Bruins have won 26 games in back-to-back seasons for the first time since the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons.
- Belmont falls to 0-2 all-time versus the Golden Gophers.
- The Bruins are 4-19 all-time against current Big Ten Conference members.
- Four players reached double figures for the 18th time this season.
- Jones notched her eighth outing with at least four steals.
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