James Madison University’s women’s basketball team is set to play in the quarterfinals of the 2026 Visit Pensacola Sun Belt Women’s Basketball Championship. The Dukes, who are seeded fourth, will face either Marshall or South Alabama on Saturday at 1 p.m. ET. The game will be available for streaming on ESPN+.
During the regular season, James Madison split its games with Marshall, losing in overtime 83-74 away but winning decisively 80-43 at home. Against South Alabama, JMU secured a wire-to-wire victory with an 88-52 win in Harrisonburg, shooting nearly 58% from the field and almost 43% from three-point range.
If the Dukes advance past the quarterfinals, they would play against top-seeded Georgia Southern. JMU also split their regular-season series with Georgia Southern.
Reflecting on last year’s quarterfinals, JMU won against Southern Miss with a strong performance from Peyton McDaniel, who posted a double-double of 21 points and 11 rebounds. Ashanti Barnes contributed 15 points and nine rebounds, while Hevynne Bristow added 11 points off the bench.
Since joining the Sun Belt Conference in 2022, James Madison has compiled a record of 64-16 in league play and holds an all-time mark of 113-73 against current conference opponents. The Dukes have been particularly successful at home, winning their last 19 games against Sun Belt teams since February 2024.
Peyton McDaniel was named to the All-Sun Belt First Team for a second consecutive year. Ashanti Barnes earned Second Team honors after being selected to the Third Team previously; both Barnes and Bree Robinson were recognized on the Sun Belt All-Defensive Team. Barnes averaged at least 15 points and nine rebounds per game this season and ranks among national leaders in rebounding. Robinson averaged over 12 points per game and increased her scoring during conference matchups while maintaining high shooting percentages.
McDaniel is one of only eleven active Division I players with more than two thousand career points. Brianna McLeod ranks sixth nationally in blocks among players without starts this season. Robinson’s tally of seventy-eight steals ties her for second most in a single season in program history.
Several individual milestones are within reach: McDaniel is two rebounds away from one thousand career boards and could become just the second player in program history to record both two thousand points and one thousand rebounds. She is also closing in on second place for all-time scoring at JMU.
Statistically, James Madison ranks among the top seventy-five teams nationally across multiple categories such as rebounding margin (16th), defensive rebounds per game (20th), scoring offense (47th), and assists per game (71st). Individually, McDaniel is ranked twenty-seventh nationally for total points scored this season.
