WICHITA, Kansas – Fourth-seeded Columbia took down No. 1 seed BYU, 81-64, to claim the 2026 Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament (WBIT) title at Koch Arena on Wednesday night.
COLUMBIA’S PATH TO THE TITLE:
First Round: [4] Columbia def. St. John’s, 74-26 (New York, N.Y.)
Second Round: [4] Columbia def. [1] North Dakota State, 86-57 (Fargo, N.D.)
Quarterfinals: [4] Columbia def. [3] California, 74-68 (Berkeley, Calif.)
Semifinals: [4] Columbia def. [3] Wisconsin, 67-50 (Wichita, Kan.)
Championship Game: [4] Columbia def. [1] BYU, 81-64 (Wichita, Kan.)
The Lions dominated throughout the tournament, winning by an average margin of 23.4 points, with three wire-to-wire victories. Following the championship game,
Mia Broom,
Riley Weiss and
Susie Rafiu were named to the All-Tournament Team, with Weiss earning Most Outstanding Player honors.
Weiss averaged 21.2 points over the five-game stretch, shooting 47 percent from the field and 43 percent from three-point range. Broom averaged over 17 points per game while shooting 50 percent (16-of-32) from beyond the arc, along with 5.0 assists and 6.2 rebounds. Rafiu added 12 points and eight rebounds in the title game.
Columbia finished its season with a 25-8 record, ranking No. 59 in the NET.