NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Trailing by 21 in the first half, down 17 at halftime, behind 16 with five minutes left, 12 with two-and-a-half minutes remaining, and five with under 30 seconds to go. None of that mattered to the Belmont University women's basketball team Sunday afternoon inside the Curb Event Center in Nashville as the Bruins (24-12) staged one of the greatest comebacks in recent college basketball memory against Northern Arizona in the second round of the 2025 Women's Basketball Invitation Tournament (WBIT). Sophomore guard
Jailyn Banks provided the final theatrics in a sequence of plays that will live in Belmont lore. Her layup in the final second lifting the Bruins to an awe-inspiring 81-80 victory over the visiting Lumberjacks (27-8).
With the win, Belmont advances to the WBIT quarterfinals for its deepest national postseason run in NCAA Division I program history.
Facing a 78-73 deficit with just 30 seconds left, graduate guard
Tuti Jones collected her own miss and proceeded to drain a three-pointer to make it a one-possession game for the first time since the two-and-a-half minute mark of the first quarter. Following Jones' three, which made it 78-76 with 27 ticks left, Banks came up with a steal and Jones drew a foul. With Jones going one-for-two at the free-throw line, the Bruins found themselves in a one-point affair with just over 15 seconds remaining.
On Northern Arizona's ensuing inbounds, senior forward
Carmyn Harrison made a game-altering play. Jumping out in front of the inbound pass, Harrison came up with a steal and took it all the way to give Belmont its first lead since the three-minute mark of the opening quarter.
The Lumberjacks' Saniyah Neverson responded with a go-ahead layup on Northern Arizona's next possession, giving the lead back to the visitors at 80-79 with only 2.5 seconds on the clock. Head coach
Bart Brooks wisely elected to call a timeout to advance the ball into the frontcourt and draw up a masterful game-winning play.
Junior guard
Emily La Chapell was the inbounder and Banks was able to slip towards the rim on a screen by senior forward
Kendal Cheesman. La Chapell found the cutting Banks and delivered a dime over the defender's head for the game-winning pass.
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With plenty of separation, Banks finished on a reverse layup to push the Bruins back in front 81-80. Banks' score left only 0.3 seconds for the Lumberjacks and Jones was easily able to tip the ball out of bounds on Northern Arizona's desperation full-court heave.
Belmont closed the game on a 23-6 run across the last six-and-a-half minutes of play.
The Bruins outscored the Lumberjacks 32-19 in the fourth quarter on 50 percent (11-of-22) shooting.
Remarkably, Belmont orchestrated its improbable comeback with 12 missed free throws (22-of-34) and 5-for-26 (19.2 percent) shooting from beyond the arc.
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A great defensive stand with 90 seconds to go led to a Northern Arizona shot clock violation and La Chapell got the Bruins within five on a layup with a minute left.
Belmont's comeback began in earnest with 2:33 remaining. Cheesman knocked down a pair of free throws before Banks and freshman guard
Sanaa Tripp made back-to-back hustle plays for five-straight points. Trailing 76-62, Banks poked the ball away following Cheesman's foul shots and found Tripp after diving the floor. Tripp finished through contact and made her free throw before coming up with a steal of her own at midcourt. Quickly taking it to the basket, Tripp trimmed the deficit to 76-69 with 2:20 to go.
The 7-0 spurt in less than 30 seconds of play sparked the Bruins' closing 19-4 run.
Belmont had cut the Lumberjacks' lead down to single digits late in the third quarter, but Northern Arizona hit a three-pointer to make it 61-49 going into the fourth. A layup from sophomore guard
Kensley Feltner and a conventional three-point play from Banks ignited a 10-2 Bruin run that got Belmont within nine and 58-49.
The Bruins outscored the Lumberjacks 21-16 in the third quarter as Northern Arizona cooled down to 2-for-7 from outside after a hot-shooting second quarter.
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The Lumberjacks shot 52.4 percent (11-of-21) in the second frame and were 4-for-5 from behind the three-point line.
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Northern Arizona built a 20-point lead in the second quarter and led by 21 on three occasions late in the first half. A triple from the Lumberjacks' Allie Cummins put Northern Arizona up 45-24 in the last minute of the half before Belmont scored four consecutive points before the break.
The Bruins were held to 26.5 percent (9-of-34) shooting in the first half and were 2-for-14 from distance. Meanwhile, the Lumberjacks connected on seven of their 12 first-half three-point attempts (58.3 percent).
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A Cheesman layup four-and-a-half minutes in gave Belmont its largest lead of the afternoon at 6-2. However, from there Northern Arizona would go on a 17-5 run to close the quarter. The Lumberjacks led 19-11 after the opening 10 minutes of action.
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From the 5:29 mark of the first quarter to the 3:34 mark of the second, Northern Arizona outscored the Bruins 36-11.
Belmont scored 53 second-half points and outrebounded the Lumberjacks 25-17 after being outworked 31-18 on the glass in the first half.
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The Bruins tied their season low with only nine turnovers while scoring 21 points off 20 Northern Arizona turnovers. Belmont outscored the Lumberjacks 44-38 in the paint.
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For the sixth time this season, five Bruins reached double figures led by Banks' 17 points, four assists and two steals. Banks scored 12 of her team-high 17 in the second half.
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Cheesman posted another near double-double with 14 points, eight rebounds and three blocks and Jones finished with 11 points, six boards, a team-high five assists and three steals. La Chapell provided 12 points and Tripp notched 11 points, four rebounds and two steals in 17 minutes off the bench. Graduate guard
Kendall Holmes tallied nine points, five boards and a season-high tying three steals.
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As a team, Belmont earned a near season-best 13 steals.
Starting guard Leia Beattie led Northern Arizona with 18 points on 7-for-8 shooting, including going 4-for-4 from deep. The Lumberjacks also got 11 points off the bench from Ava Schmidt and a team-high 13 rebounds from Neverson. Northern Arizona starting guard Taylor Feldman tallied 15 points and distributed a team-high five assists.
Of Note
- Sunday's matchup was the first-ever meeting between the Bruins and the Lumberjacks. It was also Belmont's first-ever game against a current Big Sky Conference member.
- The Bruins secure their fifth national postseason win in five years (two NCAA Tournament, three WBIT).
- Belmont, UConn and Villanova are the only three programs outside the four autonomy conferences (SEC, Big Ten, ACC, Big 12) who have won a national postseason game in four of the last five seasons with multiple NCAA Tournament victories.
- Four or more Bruins have scored in double figures in 16 different games this season.
- Banks has reached double figures in a team-best 26 of 36 games this season.
Up Next
Belmont travels to James Madison University, the top seed in the upper right quadrant of the WBIT bracket and one of the first four teams not selected to the NCAA Tournament field, for the quarterfinals Thursday evening. Tipoff from the Atlantic Union Bank Center is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT/7 p.m. ET. The WBIT quarterfinal matchup will be broadcast on
ESPN+.
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