Dukes Set for Sun Belt Title Rematch at Arkansas State

Saturday, January 24

Jonesboro, Ark.

12 p.m. ET (11 a.m. CT)

James Madison University

Arkansas State

1/23/2026 4:45:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Watch: ESPN+ ($)Listen Live Stats JMU Notes A-State Notes

JONESBORO, Ark. – James Madison will venture to Jonesboro, Ark. for the first time in program history to face reigning Sun Belt Conference Champion Arkansas State on Saturday. The opening tip inside First National Bank is scheduled for 12 p.m. ET (11 a.m. CT) and will stream on ESPN+.

LAST TIME VS. THE RED WOLVES

James Madison built a sizable first-half lead but was outscored by 13 in the fourth quarter and overtime to fall 86-79 to Arkansas State in the 2025 Sun Belt Conference Women's Basketball Championship at the Pensacola Bay Center on March 10.
JMU used a 19-0 run between the end of the first and the majority of the second to gain a 40-23 lead, but a 9-0 A-State run to end the half made it an eight-point game.
Peyton McDaniel led all players with 24 points, making four treys while adding 11 rebounds and three blocks. Barnes had her sixth double-double of the year with 17 points and a game-high 13 rebounds, to go with four assists.

THE DUKES VS. THE SUN BELT

James Madison holds a 105-72 (.593) record against current Sun Belt Conference foes and is 56-15 (.789) since joining the league in 2022.
Moreover, the Dukes are 50-13 (.794) in regular-season league matchups and had won 21 consecutive regular-season tilts prior to their 83-74 overtime loss to Marshall on Dec. 20, 2025.
James Madison has not lost a home game against a Sun Belt foe since dropping a 73-62 result to Georgia State on Feb. 15, 2024.
JMU has encountered Old Dominion more than any other SBC opponent with 85 meetings, with the Dukes trailing 53-32 in the all-time series. Additionally, ODU is the only team in the league with a winning record against JMU.
The Dukes have never lost to Louisiana (5-0), Southern Miss (4-0), Texas State (4-0), South Alabama (3-0), or ULM (3-0).

PEYTON'S CAREER STATS

Playing her fifth season of collegiate basketball, Peyton McDaniel has placed herself in the top 15 of career rankings in eight categories: three-point attempts (1st - 893), three-pointers (2nd - 310), three-point attempts per game (3rd - 6.38), points (3rd - 2,051), field goals made (4th - 731), field goal attempts (4th - 1,694), games played (T-6th - 140), and rebounds (T-13th - 921).

MILESTONE TRACKER

With 2,051 career points, Peyton McDaniel is 71 points away from passing Tamera Young (2004-08) for third in all-time scoring at JMU, tallying 2,121 in her career. If McDaniel maintains her career scoring average of 14.7 ppg, she'll reach 2,122 points in five games.
For Ashanti Barnes, with 976 points across her time at Old Dominion (2021-22) and JMU (2023-Present), she is 24 shy of reaching 1,000 in her Division I career. If Barnes averages 11.0 ppg, she can reach 1,000 career points in three games.
Additionally, with 927 points at JMU, Barnes would need 73 more to become the 35th member of the program's 1,000-point club.

NCAA RANKING SUMMARY

Through Jan. 22 games, JMU owns six top-75 marks nationally: rebounds per game (28th - 42.38), rebound margin (34th - +7.7), defensive rebounds per game (34th - 28.8), free throw attempts per game (63rd - 19.76), scoring offense (73rd - 73.2), and blocks per game (T-75th - 4.0).
Individually, Ashanti Barnes is 17th in rebounds (197), Peyton McDaniel is 22nd in points (383), and Brianna McLeod is tied for 22nd in blocks (38).

BY THE NUMBERS

5: With 2,051 career points, Peyton McDaniel is one of five active Division I players with 2,000-plus points, alongside Ta'Niya Latson (South Carolina - 2,373), Destiny Leo (UNLV - 2,057), Hannah Hidalgo (2,019), and Ny'Ceara Pryor (Texas A&M - 2,016).
38: Brianna McLeod leads the nation in blocks (38) among players with no starts. Additionally, her 38 rejections are the most by a Duke since Kayla Cooper Williams posted 74 in the 2019-20 season.
42: Bree Robinson posted a box score +/- of +42 against Marshall (Jan. 15), the highest mark by a Duke since Kamiah Smalls was +47 in an 81-39 win over Towson on Feb. 9, 2020. The future WNBA draft pick posted a double-double of 24 points and 10 rebounds with five assists, shooting 10-of-20 (.500) from the field.