Monday, March 30
Wichita, Kan.
2:30 p.m. ET
Columbia
24-8,11-3Ivy League
67
vs
50
Wisconsin
16-18,5-13Big Ten
1st quarter1
2nd quarter2
3rd quarter3
4th quarter4
FinalF
Columbia
13
19
16
19
67
Wisconsin
9
8
15
18
50
Photo by: Columbia University Athletics / Josh Wang
(4) Columbia Advances to WBIT Championship with Wire-to-Wire Win over (3) Wisconsin
3/30/2026 4:47:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Lions to meet either Kansas or BYU in the Championship Game Wednesday Night
WICHITA, Kan. – Columbia led by as many as 18 in a wire-to-wire WBIT Semifinal victory over Wisconsin, 67-50, Monday afternoon at Charles Koch Arena. The Lions move on to meet the winner of the evening's second semifinal between Kansas and BYU.
Columbia (24-8) created separation with a 10-0 second-quarter run. The Lions went into the break up by 15 and maintained a double-digit lead throughout the third quarter. However, Wisconsin (16-18) wasn't quite done. The Badgers rolled off a 10-0 run of their own, capped by a Lily Krahn trey, to get back within single digits, 52-44, with 6:52 remaining.
The Lions responded with an and-1 bucket by sophomore Nasi Simmons and scored the next seven points to push the lead back to 15. The exclamation point came with 2:52 to go, as Riley Weiss drilled a deep three from the half-court logo with the shot clock winding down. The Badgers called a timeout down 18, and the Lions safely guided the game to its finish.
"We know that defense fuels our offense," said Weiss when asked about Columbia's second-quarter run. "We need stops in order to get the ball on the other end and execute our offense. It started from getting stops and loose balls, that was a big thing for us too … grabbing onto those, being first to the ball and grabbing every ball with two hands."
The Ivy League Player of the Year, Weiss, scored a game-high 21 points on 7-of-14 shooting and hitting 3-of-4 from deep. She added four assists, three rebounds and two blocks. Mia Broom scored a dozen to go with nine rebounds, five assists and three steals.
"Riley is so fun to play with," Broom said. "She kind of does everything for us offensively. She is our mind. Coach G puts a lot of pressure on her to be a point guard, even though she's scoring a lot of our points as well. Just knowing that's someone I can go to when I'm trying to run our offense.
"I see that I almost had a triple-double today with these turnovers, so that's cool," she quipped. "Riley's just got my back, always."
Susie Rafiu added 11 points and nine rebounds. She sparked a Columbia run in the second half with six straight points to give Columbia breathing room. Hilke Feldrappe rounded out the Lions in double figures with 10.
After they didn't score on their first three possessions, the Lions burst out to an 8-0 lead. Broom and Feldrappe hit back-to-back threes, and Weiss laid in a basket to get the Lions started.
A 2-for-9 start from the floor for Wisconsin saw the Badgers trailing, 11-4, at the first media timeout of the afternoon. Columbia's first four buckets were all assisted on.
Weiss ended a 4:29 scoring drought with two free throws and the Lions led 13-9 after 10 minutes of action.
Columbia's field goal drought spanned 5:21 between Quarter. Rafiu tossed in a layup to put an end to it. A minute and a half later, Feldrappe drained her second triple to put the Lions up, 18-9. Wisconsin had to call a timeout with 7:35 left in the half.
A 13-2 Columbia run gave the Lions their largest lead so far at 32-17 with 28 seconds until the break. The Lions took the 15-point advantage into the locker room behind an 8-for-17 shooting performance in the second quarter. Broom's 11 points led both teams at halftime.
Columbia had a double-digit advantage on the glass over the first half for the second straight game, outrebounding the Badgers, 28-16.
Rafiu poured in half of Columbia's 16 third-quarter points and the Lions had a commanding 48-32 lead heading into the fourth. She scored six straight to rebuild the cushion. Wisconsin's cold shooting performance continued as the Badgers shot just over 30 percent in the period.
Wisconsin broke off a 9-2 run to bring the deficit to eight, but Columbia's own 7-0 spurt put the Lions back into breathing room at 59-45 with 4:50 to play.
With 2:46 remaining, Weiss hailed up a three-pointer from deep as the shot clock was expiring. The ball barely hit the net and Columbia sealed off the Badgers for a trip to the WBIT Final.
Wednesday's Championship Game is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET. It will be televised live on ESPN2.
FOLLOW THE LIONS
For the latest on the Columbia women's basketball, follow @CULionsWBB on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, or on the web at GoColumbiaLions.com.
Columbia (24-8) created separation with a 10-0 second-quarter run. The Lions went into the break up by 15 and maintained a double-digit lead throughout the third quarter. However, Wisconsin (16-18) wasn't quite done. The Badgers rolled off a 10-0 run of their own, capped by a Lily Krahn trey, to get back within single digits, 52-44, with 6:52 remaining.
The Lions responded with an and-1 bucket by sophomore Nasi Simmons and scored the next seven points to push the lead back to 15. The exclamation point came with 2:52 to go, as Riley Weiss drilled a deep three from the half-court logo with the shot clock winding down. The Badgers called a timeout down 18, and the Lions safely guided the game to its finish.
"We know that defense fuels our offense," said Weiss when asked about Columbia's second-quarter run. "We need stops in order to get the ball on the other end and execute our offense. It started from getting stops and loose balls, that was a big thing for us too … grabbing onto those, being first to the ball and grabbing every ball with two hands."
The Ivy League Player of the Year, Weiss, scored a game-high 21 points on 7-of-14 shooting and hitting 3-of-4 from deep. She added four assists, three rebounds and two blocks. Mia Broom scored a dozen to go with nine rebounds, five assists and three steals.
"Riley is so fun to play with," Broom said. "She kind of does everything for us offensively. She is our mind. Coach G puts a lot of pressure on her to be a point guard, even though she's scoring a lot of our points as well. Just knowing that's someone I can go to when I'm trying to run our offense.
"I see that I almost had a triple-double today with these turnovers, so that's cool," she quipped. "Riley's just got my back, always."
Susie Rafiu added 11 points and nine rebounds. She sparked a Columbia run in the second half with six straight points to give Columbia breathing room. Hilke Feldrappe rounded out the Lions in double figures with 10.
After they didn't score on their first three possessions, the Lions burst out to an 8-0 lead. Broom and Feldrappe hit back-to-back threes, and Weiss laid in a basket to get the Lions started.
A 2-for-9 start from the floor for Wisconsin saw the Badgers trailing, 11-4, at the first media timeout of the afternoon. Columbia's first four buckets were all assisted on.
Weiss ended a 4:29 scoring drought with two free throws and the Lions led 13-9 after 10 minutes of action.
Columbia's field goal drought spanned 5:21 between Quarter. Rafiu tossed in a layup to put an end to it. A minute and a half later, Feldrappe drained her second triple to put the Lions up, 18-9. Wisconsin had to call a timeout with 7:35 left in the half.
A 13-2 Columbia run gave the Lions their largest lead so far at 32-17 with 28 seconds until the break. The Lions took the 15-point advantage into the locker room behind an 8-for-17 shooting performance in the second quarter. Broom's 11 points led both teams at halftime.
Columbia had a double-digit advantage on the glass over the first half for the second straight game, outrebounding the Badgers, 28-16.
Rafiu poured in half of Columbia's 16 third-quarter points and the Lions had a commanding 48-32 lead heading into the fourth. She scored six straight to rebuild the cushion. Wisconsin's cold shooting performance continued as the Badgers shot just over 30 percent in the period.
Wisconsin broke off a 9-2 run to bring the deficit to eight, but Columbia's own 7-0 spurt put the Lions back into breathing room at 59-45 with 4:50 to play.
With 2:46 remaining, Weiss hailed up a three-pointer from deep as the shot clock was expiring. The ball barely hit the net and Columbia sealed off the Badgers for a trip to the WBIT Final.
Wednesday's Championship Game is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET. It will be televised live on ESPN2.
FOLLOW THE LIONS
For the latest on the Columbia women's basketball, follow @CULionsWBB on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, or on the web at GoColumbiaLions.com.
Team Stats
CU
Wisc
FG%
.419
.305
3FG%
.412
.238
FT%
.421
.750
RB
51
32
TO
19
16
STL
8
9
Game Leaders
Pts
21
FGM
7
3FGM
3
FTM
4
Pts
11
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
F
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballHighlights: WBK | Columbia 67, Wisconsin 50
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