BOONE, N.C. (JMU Athletics) – James Madison women’s basketball shot 47.6 percent (30-for-63) from the field and out-rebounded App State 43-28 for an 83-57 victory on Saturday afternoon inside the Holmes Convocation Center to become outright Sun Belt Conference Regular Season Champions. The regular-season title is the program’s 15th overall and second since joining the Sun Belt in 2022-23.

JMU (25-4, 16-0 SBC) poured in 40 points in the paint and received 38 points from its bench to roll past the Mountaineers (13-14, 9-7 SBC). The Dukes are the No. 1 seed heading into the Sun Belt Women’s Basketball Championship and will begin tournament play in the semifinals on Sunday, March 9. JMU will face the winner of game nine at 12:30 p.m. ET (11:30 a.m. CT) inside the Pensacola Bay Center.

At 16-0 in conference play, the Dukes are off to their best league start in program history, surpassing their 15-game conference winning streak to start the 2006-07 campaign. JMU is also the first Sun Belt team to begin league play 16-0 since Arkansas State started the 2015-16 season 18-0. Additionally, their 17 consecutive victories are the most under the direction of Head Coach Sean O’Regan since posting a 20-game winning streak from Jan. 8 through March 12, 2016.

Five Dukes scored in double figures, led by Peyton McDaniel with 17 points and 10 rebounds for her 11th double-double of the season and the 19th of her career. Kseniia Kozlova finished with 13 points on 6-of-11 (.545) from the field, while Ro Scott added 13 points with two assists and two steals off the bench.

Bree Robinson chipped in with 10 points off the bench, knocking down 3-of-3 from deep and recording a pair of takeaways. Annalicia Goodman shot a perfect 4-for-4 for 10 points in 15 minutes as a reserve. Zakiya Stephenson registered nine points and paced the Dukes with five assists. Ashanti Barnes came away with nine rebounds and two steals in the win.

For App State, Zada Porter and Emily Hege led the way with 14 and 13 points, respectively. Porter dished out a game-high six assists, while Rylan Moffitt grabbed a team-best seven rebounds.

How It Happened
First Quarter – JMU 18, App State 12
• The Dukes and Mountaineers traded runs in the opening sequence, with JMU holding an 11-9 edge at the first media timeout.
• The Mountaineers were held to zero points for the final 2:08.

Second Quarter – JMU 48, App State 28
• Scott hit back-to-back three to extend the Dukes lead to 12 (29-17) and force an App State timeout at the 6:35 mark.
• Robinson knocked down a pair of threes while the JMU shot 12-for-19 (.632) and 4-for-5 (.800) from three.
• The Dukes connected on their last five shots from the field to tally 30 points in the second quarter – the most by the team in any quarter this season.

Third Quarter – JMU 64, App State 41
• A jumper from Hazell made it 56-32 Dukes – their biggest lead of the game at that point – to force an App State timeout with 5:58 left in the period.
• JMU produced another efficient quarter, going 8-for-15 (.533) from the field while holding the Mountaineers to 5-of-16 (.313).

Fourth Quarter – JMU 83, App State 57
• A 7-0 run for JMU gave the Dukes a 71-43 advantage at the final media timeout.
• Stephenson scored all nine of her points in the fourth, while McDaniel chipped in with five.

Game Notes
• James Madison has outright won a regular season conference title for the first time since the 2018-19 campaign when the Dukes went 17-1 as members of the Colonial Athletic Association.
• JMU has won its 12th road game of the season, tied for the most road wins by the program, doing so previously in 2006-07, 2014-15 and 2022-23.
• Moreover, the Dukes have won at least nine straight road games in a single season for the fifth time in program history.
• JMU held an advantage in points in the paint (40-24), bench points (38-20), fast-break points (18-0), second-chance points (18-8) and points off turnovers (10-4).
• The Dukes shot 40.0 percent (8-of-20) from three, marking the seventh time this season the team has gone 40.0 percent or better from behind the arc.
• Five Dukes scored in double figures for the first time since five did so early this season against Saint Peter’s on Nov. 20.

— JMU Athletics —