Peyton McDaniel leads JMU into Sun Belt title game
2024 Berks basketball coverage presented by
Utilities Employees Credit Union
Twin Valley grad Peyton McDaniel knocked down three 3-pointers and scored 13 points as third-seeded James Madison advanced to the Sun Belt Conference championship game with a 64-53 win over seventh-seeded Louisiana Sunday at Pensacola Bay Center.
The Dukes (23-10) advance to Monday’s Sun Belt title game, where they will face top-seeded Marshall (25-6). The championship game tips off at 2 p.m. and will be nationally televised on ESPNU.
McDaniel, a redshirt sophomore, tied for game-high scoring honors and also had four rebounds.
The Dukes led by as many as 11 points; Louisiana came within a point in the third quarter and within four late in the fourth before the Dukes closed the semifinal with the game’s final six points at the free throw line.
Earlier in the week McDaniel received second-team all-league honors. She entered the tournament averaging a team-best 14.5 points and grabbing 7.0 rebounds, second on the team.
She scored a career-high 33 points at Southern Mississippi Jan. 11 and grabbed a career-high 13 boards in a win over Coastal Carolina Feb. 17.
McDaniel came up huge in last year’s conference championship game against Texas State when she went off for 30 points in 28 minutes, hitting 10-for-11 shots from the field, including an NCAA record-tying 7-for-7 shooting exhibition from 3-point range.
JMU is now 4-0 all-time against Louisiana and has now won seven of its last eight games overall to keep its dream for a second straight NCAA Championship appearance intact.
This will be the 20th time JMU will play for a conference championship, holding a 10-9 mark in previous berths.
