BYU’s WBIT run — and season as a whole — has come to a disappointing end.
The Cougars fell 81-64 to Columbia in Wednesday’s tournament championship game in Wichita, Kansas, trailing by as many as 27 points in the eventual 17-point loss.
Lee Cummard’s squad concludes its campaign with a 26-12 record, having gone deeper in a major postseason tournament than any other team in program history.
3 takeaways
BYU’s late surge couldn’t erase its previous woes. The Cougars never led once against Columbia — they ended the first quarter trailing by nine points, entered halftime in a 18-point hole and eventually found themselves down by 27 a few minutes into the fourth quarter.
But BYU, seemingly undeterred by the lopsided margin, rattled off a 24-6 scoring run to cut Columbia’s lead to nine points with 52 seconds remaining, making what appeared to be an inevitable blowout a lot more interesting down the stretch.
The comeback did come up short, however, as seven made Columbia free throws and another bucket ultimately sealed the inspired Cougars’ fate.
BYU’s late fight is certainly laudable. If only such results had arrived a bit earlier.
The Cougars had an off night offensively. BYU struggled to shoot against Columbia, hitting just 34.2% of 76 attempted field goals. Additionally, the Cougars shot 17.4% from 3-point range and 53.3% from the foul line — a recipe for disaster in a winner-take-all situation, along with their 16 total missed layups and 18 turnovers.
BYU did post 18 points off turnovers and 20 second chance points, but its opportunism proved much better than its set offensive strategy.
On defense, the Cougars forced 22 Columbia turnovers and held the Lions to 37% total shooting.
Similar to the fourth quarter rally, BYU’s defensive play was impressive, but ultimately wouldn’t matter.
The future is bright at BYU. In what was supposed to be a rebuilding year under a first time head coach, the Cougars played deeper into the postseason than ever before, finished with a winning record for the first time in four years and laid a hugely encouraging foundation for Cummard to build on moving forward.
More than 70% of BYU’s scoring this season came from freshmen or sophomores. Delaney Gibb took her play to another level and appears poised for further ascension in the next two years. Olivia Hamlin and Sydney Benally loudly emerged as key contributors and future program pillars.
Cummard established a solid culture and identity for his operation, which will continue to be strengthened as returning players grow together and more promising recruits arrive in Provo.
Furthermore, 13-point scorer and 46% 3-point shooter Kailey Woolston will be back on the floor this fall after returning from her mission, adding to an existing core which just played eight do-or-die tournament games in a row to potentially enter 2027’s NCAA Tournament with plenty of valuable playoff experience under its belt.
Year 1 of the Cummard era was nothing short of a slam dunk, and the road ahead should be even more exciting. While the Cougars fell short of cutting down the WBIT nets, how they fared in the tournament offered an extended glimpse of what to expect from them in the future — winning.