Belmont’s Historic Season Ends in WBIT Championship Loss
- Braden Simmons
- Apr 3
- 2 min read
Sophomore guard Jailyn Banks dribbles down the court.
She sets, shoots and hits a three-point jumper with a hand in her face to drop what had been a 24-point Minnesota lead to just an eight-point difference.
The Belmont crowd erupted, cheering the loudest it had all game.
“We're a very spiritable team. We can go on spurts, and we can go on runs. And I felt like there was one out there for us,” said head coach Bart Brooks.
With a minute left in the championship game, one question seemed to come across Belmont fans’ minds.
Could it happen again?
The Bruins found themselves in a similar situation to their fourth quarter comeback against the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks in the Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament second round game.
Belmont fouled sophomore Golden Gophers guard Grace Grocholski as she crossed halfcourt, seemingly just hoping they would miss at the line.
Grocholski stepped to the line, took two dribbles and missed the first free throw.
As she readied for the second, the Belmont crowd screamed and shouted, attempting to do anything in its power to get her to miss the second.
But she didn’t, making it a nine-point game.
Banks led the fast break and dribbled down once again and rose up from deep.
She missed, but the Golden Gophers were called for travel, giving them one more chance to try and steal this game.
Graduate guard Tuti Jones received the inbounds and hustled to step back behind the three-point arc.
But this time, the magic would run out for Belmont, and the shot rimmed out.
“I feel pretty good about putting a little game pressure on them and maybe finding a way to make magic happen again,” said head coach Bart Brooks. “I really love the competitiveness to at least put us in that position.”
The Golden Gophers closed out the game to become the 2025 WBIT champions.
The Bruins played themselves back in to a game where they only hit three made shots in the first quarter.
A game where everything seemed to be going right for the Golden Gophers on offense in spite of tough defense effort from the Bruins.
Following a season of ranked opponents, a deep run in the Missouri Valley Conference and WBIT tournaments and a number of new players added to the roster, the Bruins ended up just nine points short of their first ever championship.
“I know we had a lot of transfers coming in, but we grew close really fast... I love this group. I hate that the season is over, but I'll forever cherish every memory I had with them,” said Jones.
Belmont’s historic season is now over, and Belmont fans will have to wait until next season to see the Bruins compete on the hardwood of the Curb Event Center.
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This article was written by Braden Simmons
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