No. 4 Columbia women’s basketball stymies No. 1 BYU to win WBIT title

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A wire-to-wire win to cap an even greater wire-to-wire triumph.

That’s what No. 4 Columbia women’s basketball delivered Wednesday night in Wichita, Kan., by holding off No. 1 Brigham Young, 81-64, to win the WBIT Championship.

Columbia never trailed, wrapping a five-game tournament tear during which it led for 190 minutes and 43 seconds out of a possible 200.

And outside a 13-0 fourth-quarter BYU run after the game was effectively decided, the final score didn’t capture the dominance with which the Lions (25-8, 11-3 Ivy) dealt the Cougars (26-12, 9-9 Big 12) a title-game drubbing.

BYU shot 26-for-76 (34.2%), frequently rendered discombobulated offensively and thwarted by the Columbia fastbreak in a first quarter in which the Lions set the tone and controlled subsequent action to lead by as much as 27 with 7:13 remaining.

Columbia appeared to be right at home before the Charles Koch Arena crowd of 1,871, finishing a stretch in which it had flown almost 6,000 miles since departing last Tuesday for San Francisco to set up a WBIT quarterfinal win at No. 3 California.

The Lions settled in quickly via an ensemble scoring effort, featuring eight first-quarter points from Ipswich, England product Susie Rafiu, one of two Columbia seniors and co-captains alongside Ivy Defensive Player of the Year and Pittsburgh native Perri Page.

With Page and Rafiu on board, Columbia made a habit of making history en route to a 100-28 (78.1%) record, notching a 2023 WNIT title game appearance, the program’s first NCAA Tournament appearance in 2024 and first NCAA Tournament win in 2025.

“Her and Sooz [Rafiu] have given so much to this program,” Ivy Player of the Year and junior guard Riley Weiss postgame told ESPN2 of Page, who fouled out after contributing nine points, five rebounds and three steals. “Obviously, they’ve seen it, they’ve been here four years. They’ve helped build it up to what it is now.”

Named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player, Weiss posted 20 points on 6-for-18 (33.3%) field-goal shooting, seven boards and two steals. Leading the Lions in scoring was sophomore guard and Seattle native Mia Broom with 23 points. Broom shot a key 4-for-8 (50%) from three-point range.

Columbia’s WBIT run followed a pair of gut-wrenching losses to Harvard that denied the Lions a claim to the Ivy League title and then a slot in the conference tournament final.

But a late-game collapse by No. 4 Harvard at No. 3 Wisconsin in a WBIT quarterfinal clash let the Badgers slip into a semifinal showdown in Wichita that Columbia dominated to advance to Wednesday’s title tilt.

The WBIT crown is the latest reward for a program that, under coach Megan Griffith, just keeps reloading.

“We weren’t going back to New York City without a championship,” Weiss said. “And we got it.”

 

2 thoughts on “No. 4 Columbia women’s basketball stymies No. 1 BYU to win WBIT title”

  2. It should unnoticed that Coach Griffith has used the portal to bring in players like Ceci Collins, Feldrappa, and the guard who transferred in from Ole Miss. Also credit her international recruiting too.

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