Belmont had finally built a lead against the Villanova Wildcats.
They just needed to keep it for about three minutes.
After three quarters of trading offensive blows with Villanova, the Bruins found themselves up 60-54 with about three minutes in the game.
Villanova wasn’t done competing.
It brought stifling defense to sophomore guard Jailyn Banks in an attempt to disrupt her.
Banks was having a career night with 25 points.
Every other drive, it seemed like she had an and-one play to keep Belmont in it.
“Anytime anybody's hot or they've had a streak, we just find them the ball with space,” said Banks. “So that opened me up a lot.”
As Banks readied to push on another drive to the basket, Villanova walled her off and poked the ball free.
It bounced wildly while players skidded across the floor trying to fight for possession.
Finally, it ended up in the hands of Villanova’s leading scorer, freshman guard Jasmine Bascoe, who looked to make a move to make it a two-possession game.
As she pushed, her momentum carried her towards the other side of the court and what likely would’ve been an open basket.
But she stepped out of bounds.
The Bruins had one more chance to capitalize and put this game out of reach.
Following a couple of well-placed passes by the Bruins offense, the Wildcats had a sight that has haunted opposing defenses all season long, senior forward Kendal Cheesman wide open from downtown.
She sank the three, giving the Bruins a crucial nine-point cushion to ice the game and get her 11th double-double of the season.
The Bruins are now headed to compete for their first ever championship in team history after winning 66-57 against Villanova in the semifinals of the Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament.
“It means a lot just to be in this position, especially with this group. We're really taking every moment to extend our season so we can play together, but it means a lot to make history together,” said Banks.
Belmont flipped the script from their previous game against Villanova in the 2022 Gulf Coast Showcase, where it lost in a tightly contested 83-80 outing.
“I'm not sure if it was any X's and O's or planning it was, it was just a tough group of kids wanting to keep playing,” said head coach Bart Brooks.
This time would prove to be a similar back-and-forth contest with both teams hustling on both ends of the floor grabbing offensive boards to extend possessions, defending matchups well and matching each other shot for shot throughout most of the game.
Neither team took a commanding lead until Belmont ultimately pulled away late in the third quarter.
Belmont now moves on to the WBIT championship game Wednesday night in Hinkle Fieldhouse against the Minnesota Golden Gophers.
“It's an incredible opportunity that we have for our team. We've put in so much work over the season, and the adversity that we face, the challenges we faced, I think we've really stuck together as a team,” said graduate guard Kendall Holmes. “We want to go get that championship.”
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This article was written by Braden Simmons
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