NEW ORLEANS – James Madison women’s basketball senior Kiki Jefferson was named Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year, while junior Peyton McDaniel was tabbed Sixth Woman of the Year as announced by the league office on Monday afternoon.

Jefferson is the third player to earn a conference player of the year award under Head Coach Sean O’Regan, joining Precious Hall (2017) and Kamiah Smalls (2020) who won it during their time in the Colonial Athletic Association.

In addition to her major award, Jefferson garnered First Team All-Sun Belt honors. Previously, the senior was named to the league’s second team in October.

Jefferson led the Sun Belt Conference in scoring at 18.3 points per game, while pulling down 8.1 rebounds per outing, good for fifth in the league. The guard recorded 14 contests with over 20 points, including a pair of 30-point efforts against #13 North Carolina (Nov. 20) and Old Dominion (Feb. 18). Moreover, she’s registered nine double-doubles in her senior campaign, six of which have come during conference play.

With 1,765 career points, the senior trails Tarik Hislop (2009-13) who sits in fifth with 1,847 career points during her time in Harrisonburg. Additionally, Jefferson has 788 rebounds which rank 10th in the JMU record book behind Nadine Morgan’s (1999-03) 793.

In total, Jefferson has tallied 549 points this season, tied for 26th in the country. Additionally, the guard is second in the NCAA in free throw attempts (235) and third in free throws made (187).

Junior Peyton McDaniel was a huge factor off the bench for the Dukes in 2022-23. Despite not being the starting lineup, she finished the regular season second on the team in scoring with 11.5 points per game. Additionally, McDaniel was especially dangerous from three where she knocked down 66-of-172 (38.4%) from behind the arc. In 2022-23, she had 10 games with at least three makes from deep, five of which with five or more makes from long range.

The guard was named Sun Belt Player of the Week on Jan. 24 after producing 26 points against Georgia Southern on Jan. 19, hitting 10-of-18 (55.6%) from the field and 6-of-11 (54.5%) from three. The junior followed this up with a season-high 28-point performance versus Troy on Jan. 21. She connected on 6-of-11 (54.5%) from deep again and tied her then-season-high with nine rebounds. For McDaniel, this marked the first time in her career scoring 20-plus in consecutive games.

Against App State, the guard scored 18 points and pulled down 10 rebounds for her first career double-double on Feb. 22.

Up Next
No. 1-seeded JMU will have a double-bye in the Sun Belt Women’s Basketball Championship Tournament. In the quarterfinals, the Dukes will face off against the winner of the No. 8 Marshall vs. No. 9 Coastal Carolina on March 3 at 12:30 ET.

The Thundering Herd and Chanticleers are set to battle on March 1 at 12:30 p.m. ET. All games take place in Pensacola, Fla. inside the Pensacola Bay Center.

— JMU Athletics —