Dukes Open Road Week at Southern Miss

HATTIESBURG, Miss. – James Madison will begin its four-game road swing with a meeting at Southern Miss on Saturday evening as it continues Sun Belt Conference action. The opening tip inside Reed Green Coliseum is slated for 7 p.m. ET and will stream on ESPN+.

LAST TIME VS. THE LADY EAGLES

Leading 42-40 heading into the final quarter, James Madison held Southern Miss to 1-of-12 (.083) from the field in the final frame to pull away with a 62-47 win over the Lady Eagles in Sun Belt Conference women's basketball action inside the Atlantic Union Bank Center on Jan. 24, 2025.
JMU used 20 offensive rebounds to score 21 second-chance points for its eighth consecutive victory and improved to 8-0 in league play. Meanwhile, Southern Miss shot a season-low 31.6 percent (18-of-57) from the field and struggled from behind the arc, finishing 3-of-19 (.158).
Grace McDonough recorded a career-high 13 points, going 6-of-8 (.750) from the field. Kylie Marshall supplied 10 points and two steals off the bench.

THE DUKES VS. THE SUN BELT

James Madison holds a 107-73 (.594) record against current Sun Belt Conference foes and is 58-16 (.784) since joining the league in 2022.
Moreover, the Dukes are 52-14 (.788) 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 (6-0), Southern Miss (4-0), Texas State (4-0), South Alabama (4-0), or ULM (3-0).

NCAA RANKING SUMMARY

Through Feb. 2 games, JMU owns seven top-75 marks nationally: rebounds per game (23rd - 42.04), rebound margin (28th - +8.0), defensive rebounds per game (28th - 28.8), scoring offense (57th - 74.5), field goal percentage (63rd - 44.4), blocks per game (T-66th - 4.0), and scoring margin (72nd - +11.1).
Individually, Ashanti Barnes is tied for 19th in rebounds (223), Peyton McDaniel is tied for 20th in points (439), Bree Robinson is tied for 25th in steals (62), and Brianna McLeod is tied for 31st in blocks (39).

BY THE NUMBERS

6: With 2,107 career points, Peyton McDaniel is one of six active Division I players with 2,000-plus points, alongside Ta'Niya Latson (South Carolina - 2,399), Hannah Hidalgo (2,108), Destiny Leo (UNLV - 2,068), Ny'Ceara Pryor (Texas A&M - 2,064), and Audi Crooks (Iowa State - 2,024).
39: Brianna McLeod is tied for second in the nation in blocks (39) among players with no starts, alongside Kyla Abraham (Baylor), with both trailing Paulina Hernandez (41) of Youngstown State. Additionally, her 39 rejections are the most by a Duke since Kayla Cooper Williams posted 74 in the 2019-20 season.
184: JMU tallied 184 total points in its wins over Louisiana (96-45, Jan. 29) and South Alabama (88-52, Jan. 31). The points are the most scored by the program in back-to-back games since 2002 when the Dukes defeated Norfolk State (92-63, Dec. 15) and Morgan State (96-45, Dec. 18) for 188 points in two games.

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 - 913), three-pointers (2nd - 319), points (3rd - 2,107), field goal attempts (3rd - 1,732), three-point attempts per game (4th - 6.38), field goals made (4th - 751), games played (T-6th - 143), and rebounds (14th - 938).

MILESTONE TRACKER

With 2,107 career points, Peyton McDaniel is 15 points away from passing Tamera Young (2004-08) for third in all-time scoring at JMU, tallying 2,121 in her career.
With 972 points at JMU, Ashanti Barnes needs 28 more to become the 35th member of the program's 1,000-point club. The forward recently eclipsed 1,000 points in her Division I career (currently at 1,021), having scored 49 at Old Dominion as a freshman in 2020-21.

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Players Mentioned

Ashanti Barnes

Kylie Marshall

Peyton McDaniel

Grace McDonough

Brianna McLeod

Bree Robinson

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Upcoming Event: Women's Basketball at Miami (Ohio) on November 2, 2026 at TBA

Upcoming Event: Women's Basketball versus Mid-American Conference on February 6, 2027 at TBA

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