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YOUR 2026 WBIT CHAMPIONS#ElevateTheGame pic.twitter.com/0BFaAWw9Rl
— Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament (@wbitwbb) April 2, 2026
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.
In like a lamb, out like a Lion. Right?
That’s how March has played out for Columbia women’s basketball. After two losses to Harvard, including a nail-biter in the Ivy League semifinal, the Lions entered the WBIT as a team on a mission.
Steamrolling St. John’s and North Dakota State and escaping against California, they earned their way to the semifinal in Wichita, Kan.
In their final game of March, the Lions continued their postseason winning ways. Never trailing, Columbia suffocated Wisconsin defensively while doing just enough offensively to earn a comfortable win and punch their ticket to the WBIT final by a score of 67-50.
Immediately after losing to Harvard women’s basketball in the Ivy League semifinal, Columbia senior forward Perri Page said in no uncertain terms, “We are winning the WBIT. I can tell you that right now.”
Two games in, Columbia are more than backing up Page. After demolishing St. John’s 74–26 at home on Thursday, the Lions (22–8, 11–3 Ivy) romped past North Dakota State (29–5, 15–1 Summit), 86–57, in Columbia’s first-ever trip to the Peace Garden State.
“Our team has done a great job of turning the page,” Columbia coach Megan Griffith told ESPN+ after the game.
Harvard, which dispatched Columbia from the Ivy League Tournament after spoiling the latter’s Ivy League title pursuit late in the season, took care of business at Lavietes Pavilion to advance from the WBIT’s second round simultaneously Sunday, holding Eastern Kentucky to just two first-quarter points en route to a 63-34 win.
Princeton women’s basketball learned Sunday night it has drawn a No. 9 seed and will face No. 8 Oklahoma State Saturday in Los Angeles in the Tigers’ seventh straight NCAA Tournament berth dating back to 2018.
Princeton and Oklahoma State will tip off at 7:30 p.m. ET Saturday on ESPN2.
The Associated Press-ranked No. 23 Tigers will play the AP-unranked Cowgirls in the UCLA quad and would play the host No. 1-seed Bruins if the latter win their Round of 64 game against No. 16-seed California Baptist.