Bringing you news and notes coming from the Sun Belt Conference in women's sports from both the athletic field and in the classroom as soon as news breaks.

Sun Belt Players of the Week From the Diamond

Following a road series sweep in league play, App State juniors Makayla McClain and Sophie Moshos claimed Sun Belt Conference Softball Player and Pitcher of the Week honors, presented by Jersey Mike’s Subs.

McClain earns Player of the Week recognition for the second time this season after receiving the honor on March 4, as Moshos becomes the first Mountaineer hurler to receive Pitcher of the Week recognition since joining the conference in 2015.

Player of the Week
Makayla McClain, App State
[Jr. | 2B | Liberty, N.C.]

McClain in a three-game sweep at James Madison McClain stat line read like this five hits in nine at-bats (.556) three of her five hits were home runs, she drove in eight RBI. while posting a slugging of 1.667 for the weekend while reaching base 9 of her 13 plate appearances which translates in a 2.359 OPS and accounted for 15 total bases.

Pitcher of the Week
Sophie Moshos, App State
[Jr. | LHP | Brazil, Ind.]

Moshos earned the win in all three of the Mountaineers’ victories at James Madison, pitching 15.2 of the team’s 18 innings played her stat line was a 1.34 ERA, 14 strikeouts.while the Dukes batted .204 off her. Moshos hurled a two-hit shutout with three strikeouts and allowed just four baserunners in Friday’s 8-0, five-inning win. In game two the following day, as a reliever she allowed two runs in 3.1 innings In finale, Moshos tossed a complete game while posting a season-high nine strikeouts and surrendered only

2025 Sun Belt Conference Softball Players of the Week
Week 1 – Taylor McKinney, 2B/OF, Troy
Week 2 – Georgia Hood, 1B, Coastal Carolina
Week 3 – Maddy Jennings, C, Coastal Carolina
Week 4 – Makayla McClain, 2B, App State
Week 5 – Payton List, UTIL, James Madison
Week 6 – Gabby Stagner, INF, South Alabama
Week 7 – Rielly Lucas, 1B, Marshall
Week 8 – Makayla McClain, 2B, App State

2025 Sun Belt Conference Softball Pitchers of the Week
Week 1 – Nicolette Picone, Coastal Carolina
Week 2 – Madison Azua, Texas State
Week 3 – Nicolette Picone, Coastal Carolina
Week 4 – Maddie Johnson, Georgia Southern
Week 5 – Nicolette Picone, Coastal Carolina
Week 6 – Madison Azua, Texas State
Week 7 – Maddie Johnson, Georgia Southern
Week 8 – Sophie Moshos, App State

Arkansas State Wins Sun Belt Basketball Title

Arkansas State will be the No. 15 seed in the Spokane Region of the 2025 NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship, as announced during the NCAA’s selection show Sunday evening.

The Red Wolves will take on the No. 2 seed, UConn (31-3) on Saturday, March 22 at Harry A. Gampel Pavilion in Storrs, CT.

Arkansas State will compete in its first NCAA Tournament in program history.

The Red Wolves own a 21-10 overall record this season and finished second in the regular season standings and earned the No. 2 seed in the Sun Belt Tournament. They went on to defeat No. 1 seed James Madison in overtime in the tournament final and secured the leagues auto bid.

Arkansas State is led by Zyion Shannon who leads the team with 11.0 points per game while shooting at a 40.4 percent clip. Kennedie Montue and Crislyn Rose also average double figures with 10.4 and 10.1, respectively.
Montue and Rose were named to the Sun Belt All-Tournament Team, with Rose also earning Most Outstanding Player.

James Madison guard Peyton McDaniel has been named Sun Belt Conference Women’s Basketball Player of the Year to headline the league’s 2024-25 All-Sun Belt teams and awards following a vote by the league’s head coaches.

McDaniel becomes the second James Madison player to earn Sun Belt Women’s Basketball Player of the Year. The redshirt junior averaged 16.0 points and 8.4 rebounds per game to anchor a JMU team that went a perfect 18-0 in Sun Belt Conference play. She is one of only two Division I players in the country to average at least 16 points and eight rebounds per game while hitting 60-or-more three-pointers. In league play, McDaniel’s 17.4 points per game led the conference, while her 8.3 boards ranked seventh. The guard shot an efficient 49.3 percent from the field, 36.3 percent from three and 84.1 from the free throw line across the team’s 18 league games.

McDaniel scored in double figures 27 times this season and posted eight games with 20-or-more points. The redshirt junior notched 12 double-doubles this season, good to tie for 30th in the nation and second most in the league. Five of those double-doubles came in consecutive games in conference play, making her the first JMU player with five-straight double-doubles since the 2006-07 season

In her first season with Georgia State, Mahogany Matthews became a key factor for the Panthers' defense, leading the Sun Belt and finishing second in the nation with 97 total blocks and 3.23 blocks per-game. She also broke the Georgia State program record for single-season blocks. The graduate student notched a career-high 11 blocks against South Alabama to tie the program record for blocks in a single-game.

Erica Lafayette transferred from Rutgers and turned into a force for the Ragin’ Cajuns, earning Newcomer of the Year. She scored in the double figures in 16-of-18 Sun Belt games to finish at 16.8 points per game, third-most in the league. The graduate guard scored 17 points or more in each of the first five conference games, establishing her spot at the top of the scoring charts, while producing 20-plus point games five times against league opponents. Overall, Lafayette completed the regular season reaching double digits in 21 of the 28 games that she played, leading her to clinching the first 400-point season by a Ragin' Cajun since 2016-17.

Trinity Rowe started in all 30 games for Southern Miss, becoming the fifth freshman to start in every game in Southern Miss' 50-season history. She finished fifth in the Sun Belt in minutes played (984) for an average of 32.8 minutes per game. Rowe reached double figures in nine games and averaged 7.1 points per game, leading all freshmen in the league with 212 points on the year. She nailed seven three-point baskets at Georgia State on Dec. 29, a performance that earned her Sun Belt Player of the Week. The freshman leads Southern Miss with 79 assists and is a sharpshooter beyond the arc, as she owns the most three-point baskets by a Southern Miss freshman in school history with a team-best 55 so far, leading all Sun Belt players that made at least 50 threes.

Ro Scott proved herself to be one of the best players in the nation coming off the bench, averaging 11.3 points and 2.9 rebounds per game. Scott is currently fifth in Division I in points per game off the bench and is one of two reserves in the nation to average over 10 points per game and knock down 40 or more threes. The graduate student scored in double-figures 19 times this season and recorded four games with 20-or-more points, including dropping 22 points versus then-No. 4 Texas on Dec. 8. Scott played a pivotal role in James Madison’s 2024-25 success.

Sean O’Regan guided James Madison to a 27-4 overall record with a perfect 18-0 mark in Sun Belt action. This season proved to be historic for the Dukes, as they set the program record for regular-season wins at 27. James Madison achieved its fourth undefeated season against league foes, but its first as a member of the Sun Belt. James Madison is also the first Sun Belt team to go undefeated in league play since Middle Tennessee did so in the 2011-2012 season. Additionally, the teams 19-consecutive victories are the most under O’Regan and the most since posting a 20-game winning streak from Jan. 8 through March 12, 2016.

James Madison ranks No. 1 in the Sun Belt in scoring defense (59.6 ppg), scoring margin (+15.9), field goal percentage (44.8), field goal percentage defense (33.6) and three-point percentage defense (24.4) in league play. Overall, the Dukes boast four top-15 marks in the nation: three-point percentage defense (2nd – 15.1), defensive rebounds per game (5th – 30.5), rebounds per game (8th – 42.97) and field goal percentage defense (14th – 36.0).

James Madison led the way with three All-Sun Belt selections, including two first team selections and one on third team. Arkansas State, Marshall, Coastal Carolina each had two honorees and Troy, ODU, Louisiana, ULM, Southern Miss, and Georgia State each had one.

News and Notes From the Sun Belt Hardwood

Last Regualar Season Week for the Sun Belt

Team's are looking forthe best seed they can in the 2025 Hercules Tires Sun Belt Conference Women’s Basketball Championship.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR
REGULAR SEASON CHAMPS
James Madison (25-4, 16-0) clinched the regular season title and the top seed in the Sun Belt Women’s Basketball Championship with their 83-57 victory over App State on Saturday. They have 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 CAA. James Madison hosts Georgia State (14-14, 7-9) on Wednesday, before hosting ULM (11-16, 7-9) in Friday’s season finale.

EIGHT STRAIGHT
Coastal Carolina (21-6, 11-5) has won eight games in a row and climbed all the way up to fourth in the league standings. The Chants defeated Arkansas State (17-10, 13-3) on Saturday to improve to 13-2 at home with two home games left in their regular season slate. The Chants lead the league in field goal percentage (43.4), Alancia Ramsey leads individually (60.7). The Chants are coming off a game in which four of their five starters shot 60.0 or higher, with Jayden Marable going 10-13 (76.9) to lead the team.

WHO GETS THE TWO SEED
Troy (18-11, 12-4) looks to secure a victory over Texas State (12-15, 6-10) on Wednesday before facing Arkansas State in the season finale. Both Troy and Arkansas State can be placed as high as the two seed or as low as the four seed in the conference tournament depending on the outcomes of the games this week. A win over Texas State for Troy and a win at Southern Miss for A-State would mean that heading into their Friday matchup, Troy has a chance to split the season series with Arkansas State and send the seeding decision into tiebreakers that would decide the teams fate.


IN THE POLLS
James Madison received five votes in the most recent AP Poll and ranked a season high No. 3 in the Mid-Major Poll. Coastal Carolina has received votes for five straight weeks in the mid-major poll.

IMPACT PLAYERS – Sun Belt Statistical Leaders
PPG: Aislynn Hayes, Marshall, 18.0
RPG: Zay Dyer, Troy, 10.6
BPG: Mahogany Matthews, Georgia State, 3.2
APG: Shaulana Wagner, Troy, 6.4
SPG: Crystal Henderson, Georgia State, 2.6

WHERE TO WATCH

Date Time Matchup ESPN+

Wednesday, Feb. 26 4 p.m. Old Dominion at Coastal Carolina ESPN+

Wednesday, Feb. 26 5 p.m. App State at Georgia Southern ESPN+

Wednesday, Feb. 26 5 p.m. ULM at Marshall ESPN+

Wednesday, Feb. 26 5 p.m. South Alabama at Louisiana ESPN+

Wednesday, Feb. 26 5 p.m. Arkansas State at Southern Miss ESPN+

Wednesday, Feb. 26 6 p.m. Georgia State at James Madison ESPN+ Wednesday, Feb. 26 7 p.m. Texas State at Troy