HARRISONBURG, Va. (JMU Athletics) – Peyton McDaniel tied her season-high of 29 points, while James Madison out-rebounded App State 43-28 to power past the Mountaineers 77-61 in Sun Belt Conference women’s basketball action on Thursday night inside the Atlantic Union Bank Center.

JMU (22-4, 13-0 SBC) shot 47.3 percent (26-of-55) from the field and held App State (13-11, 9-4 SBC) to 8-of-29 (.276) from three. Coming into the game, the Mountaineers led the league in three-point percentage with a 35.2 clip.

The Dukes’ fourteen consecutive victories are the most under the direction of Head Coach Sean O’Regan and is the program’s longest streak since posting a 20-game winning streak from Jan. 8 through March 12, 2015.

Additionally, JMU is the first Sun Belt team to start 13-0 in league play since Arkansas State began the 2015-16 season 13-0.

McDaniel recorded an efficient 12-of-19 (.632) shooting effort from the field and 3-of-7 (.429) behind the arc to go along with seven rebounds and a pair of steals. Zakiya Stephenson notched 10 points, tied her career-high of seven assists and grabbed seven boards. Kseniia Kozlova registered 13 points and nine rebounds, while Annalicia Goodman produced six points, four rebounds and a career-high three assists in 15 minutes of action. Bree Robinson finished with five points, three assists and three rebounds off the bench.

For App State, Mara Neira led the way with 18 points as a reserve, connecting on 4-of-10 (.400) from deep. Emily Hege was the only Mountaineer starter who scored in double figures, recording 11 points. Eleyana Tafisi dished out seven assists and collected a game-best three steals.

How It Happened
First Quarter – JMU 15, App State 7
• The Dukes held App State to 1-of-7 (.143) to open the game to give JMU a 7-2 lead at the first media timeout.
• McDaniel set the tone with seven points and three rebounds in the opening frame.

Second Quarter – JMU 36, App State 22
• Stephenson stole an inbound pass and found an open Hazell who knocked down the corner three to make it 24-10 JMU and force an App State timeout at the 8:01 mark.
• JMU shot 7-of-16 (.438) from the field and 3-of-7 (.429) from three for a 14-point advantage heading into the break.

Third Quarter – JMU 55, App State 42
• The Dukes led by as much as 19 (48-29) with 6:21 left in the third, however, the Mountaineers responded with an 8-0 run to make it 48-37 at the media timeout.
• McDaniel shot a perfect 5-for-5 from the field for 12 points in the period.

Fourth Quarter – JMU 77, App State 61
• Kozlova converted on an and-one opportunity to give the Dukes their biggest lead of the game, 75-53, with 1:18 left to play.
• JMU made 7-of-12 (.583) from the field and sank 8-of-12 (.667) from the charity stripe.

Game Notes
• With her appearance against the Mountaineers, Hazell is tied with Nikki Newman (2009-14) for the most games played in program history with 147.
• Additionally, Goodman played in her 130th career game, placing her tied for 10th in all-time games played with Courtney Hamner (2007-11) and Kamiah Smalls (2016-20).
• JMU leads App State in the all-time series 7-2, dating back to 1982.
• The Dukes held an advantage in points in the paint (38-24), points off turnovers (19-12) and fast-break points. The Mountaineers scored more bench points (31-15) and second-chance points (11-4).
• With her effort, McDaniel passed Shanna Price (1999-03) (1,496 points) for 11th all-time in program history.
• James Madison now has four seasons in its history starting at least 13-0 in conference play. The other occurrences were in 2007, 2014 and 2015.
• McDaniel has 26 career 20-plus point games, with seven during the 2024-25 campaign.

— JMU Athletics —