Last season, the Sun Belt Conference women’s basketball season was a two-team race.
James Madison went 30-6 overall and a perfect 18-0 in league play to earn the conference regular-season championship. And Arkansas State got hot at the right time and won the conference tournament. Those two teams are once again fan favorites to dominate the Sun Belt Conference.
But the drop off from James Madison and Arkansas State to the rest of the pack isn’t nearly as dramatic as it was last season. Troy and Old Dominion should be serious contenders for the conference title and Southern Miss, Coastal Carolina and Georgia State are at least capable o making serious noise in conference plays.
The Sun Belt players with the greatest NIL earning potential include James Madison’s Peyton McDaniel, Troy’s Zay Dyer, Arkansas State’s Cristyn Rose, Old Dominion’s En’Dya Buford and Southern MIss’ Jakayla Johnson
Here is a season preview and rankings for the 2025-26 Sun Belt Conference women’s basketball season:
1. JAMES MADISON
The main reason the Dukes were chosen as the conference’s top team in a poll of conference’s coaches is that guard Peyton McDaniel returns after averaging a team-high 16 points and 8.3 rebounds per game last season. Conference coaches chose McDaniel as the Sun Belt’s Preseason Player of the Year. Forward Ashanti Barnes and guards Bree Robinson and Zakiya Stephenson also return for the Dukes. The frontcourt should be better last season with SMU transfer Brianna McLeod and freshman Grace McDonough joining forces with Barnes.
2. ARKANSAS STATE
The Red Wolves have the Sun Belt’s top backcourt tandem in Zyion Shannon and Crislyn Rose. Shannon is off to a great early-season start including a 26-point outburst in a loss to Missouri earlier this week and Rose scored 26 points in a win over Tarleton State. The frontcourt should be even stronger than last year with the arrival of 6-foot-2 center Yves Cox, who spent last season at Cal State Northridge.
3. OLD DOMINION
Guard En’Dyan Buford returns after averaging 13.2 points and earning Second-Team All Sun Belt Conference honors last season. The Monarchs also have a top-notch returner on the front line with Simone Cunningham, who averaged 9.1 points and eight rebounds per game last season. James Madison also did well in the transfer portal adding Neveah Scott, who was last season’s NJCAA Tournament Most Valuable Player while at Northwest Florida State College and 6-foot-4 center Laila Walker, who spent last season at ULM.
4. TROY
Trojans fans have a lot to be excited about as Zay Dyer returns after last season earning First-Team All-Sun Belt Conference honors. Dyer averaged 13.8 points a game and set a new school record by grabbing 395 rebounds. But Dyer isn’t the only impact returner. Senior guard Rachel Leggett is back after averaging 13 points a game last season and senior guard Ashley Baez averaged 9.3 points a game.
5. SOUTHERN MISS
True freshman Ramiah “Moonie” Augurson has been even better than her recruiting scouting reports in early-season play. She scored 17 points in a victory over Blue Mountain Christian earlier this week. Junior forward Je’Mya Evans is the top returner and is expected to be a dominant rebounder.
6. COASTAL CAROLINA
Last season was one of the best in school history. The Chanticleers went 23-9 overall (12-6 in Sun Belt Conference play) and reached the semifinals of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament and made the program’s first appearance in the WNIT. Fans are hoping for more of the same this season. Junior forward Tessa Grady transferred in from Wisconsin and has quickly emerged as the best player on her new team. With Grady up front and three-point specialist Kristin Williams at guard, the Chanticleers should have one of the Sun Belt’s best inside/outside duos.
7. MARSHALL
Senior forward Meredith Maier is the top returner for Marshall and she’ll have help on the front line with the arrival of Tusculum transfer Ni’Kiah Chsterfield. Freshmen Olivia Olson and Kassie Ingram aren’t expected to play big roles immediately.
8. GEORGIA STATE
Junior guard Crystal Henderson already is the established leader of the Panthers after starting all 33 games last season and averaging 11.5 points per game while recording 20 double-doubles. She’ll be joined in the backcourt by Georgia Tech transfer Gabbie Grooms. Brazilian forward Ana Luiza Ramos Pires should bolster the front line after playing at Garden City Community College last season.
9. APP STATE
Senior Elena Pericic returns after starting 28 games and averaging 8.3 points and 4.5 rebounds per game last season. Emily Hege and Zoe McCrary are the other top two returners. But App State picked up two other experienced players when Emma Smith arrived in Boone after spending the past three seasons at Denver and when Jayden McBride transferred in from Denver.
10. GEORGIA SOUTHERN
The Eagles won seven of their last 11 games in Coach Hana Haden’s first year in Statesboro and expectations are even higher this season. Four players from last season return and Haden brought in two transfers who played for her at Georgia Southwestern in the 2023-24 season. The top two returners are a pair of guards (McKenna Eddings and Shanti Simmons) who are in their sixth season of college basketball and both have scored over 1,000 points in their careers. The two transfers from Georgia Southwestern are point guard Destiny Garrett, a Division II All-American last season) and guard Armani Cooke.
11. LOUISIANA
Veteran coach Garry Broadhead is building his team around a talented freshman class of players from within the state of Louisiana. That group is led by Imani Daniel, Amijah Price and Arionna Patterson, who were all rated among the best 10 high school players in the state. They’ll be joined by a pair of impact transfers in Mikaylah Manley (Southern Miss) and Jazmyne Jackson (Georgia Southern.
12. TEXAS STATE
Sophomore guard Saniya Burks was a part-time starter and role player last season. This season, she’s the focal point of the Bobcats’ offense. Burks exploded for a career-high 34 points in a season-opening loss to Ohio. Junior guard Taleiyah Gibbs is the other top returner for Texas State. The Bobcats added seven transfers, including three from the Division I level — Deja Jones (Indiana State), Myri Walker (South Alabama) and KP Parr (Wichita State).
13. ULM
Scotty Fletcher takes over at ULM and he’ll build his team around transfers. Two App State transfers — Mani Ingram and Asjah Innis — will lead the way and they’ll be joined by forward Keshunti Nichols, who played at Charleston Southern last season. ULM also added junior-college transfer Kamille Brown from Three Rivers Community College.
14. SOUTH ALABAMA
Alicia Spann, Daniela Gonzalz and Chrysta Narcisse are the top returners for the Jaguars. South Alabama will look to transfers Ronaltha Marc (Winthrop) and Amyah Sutton (New Mexico Junior College) to play big roles along with freshman Miyah Holmes and Chloe Donnell.
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