McDaniel, O’Regan, Scott, Freeman, Lindsay headline Sun Belt Postseason Awards

NEW ORLEANS (WHSV) - Peyton McDaniel was voted the Sun Belt Women’s Basketball Player of the Year and Sean O’Regan was voted women’s basketball Coach of the Year in what was a jam-packed day of accolades for James Madison’s basketball programs.

McDaniel is the 11th player in JMU women’s basketball program history to be voted Player of the Year, including the fourth honor under O’Regan. During the 2024-25 campaign, McDaniel averaged 16.0 points and 8.4 rebounds. During conference play, McDaniel averaged a league-best 17.4 points per contest while shooting an efficient 49.3 percent (109-of-221) from the field, 36.3 percent (37-for-102) from three and 84.1 (58-of-69) from the free throw line.

O’Regan won Coach of the Year for the first time in his nine seasons as head coach at JMU. He helped lead JMU to a 27-4 (18-0 SBC) regular season. O’Regan and the Dukes set the program record for regular-season wins, with the previous record being set by the 2014-15 team (26-3). JMU achieved its fourth undefeated season against league foes, previously going 12-0 in 1986-87, 1987-88 and 1988-89 as members of the Colonial Athletic Association.

Ro Scott was tabbed the conference’s sixth woman of the year. She averaged 11.3 points and 2.9 rebounds per game. Scott is the third Duke to be named Sixth Woman of the Year.

In addition to McDaniel, center Ksyusha Kozlova was an All-Sun Belt First Team Selection. Forward Ashanti Barnes was an All-Sun Belt Third Team selection.

The Dukes are the No. 1 seed in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament. They get a bye to the semifinals, which is on March 9 at noon ET.

Freeman, Lindsay receive Sun Belt Postseason Honors

Mark Freeman was named the Sun Belt Conference’s Newcomer of the Year and Bryce Lindsay was named Freshman and Sixth Man of the Year.

The second James Madison player to earn Sun Belt Newcomer of the Year in as many seasons following T.J. Bickerstaff in 2023-24, Freeman transferred from Morehead State and led the team in scoring (15.2) and assists per game (3.2) while averaging 17.2 points per game against Sun Belt opponents. After coming off the bench the last two months of the season, the First Team All-Sun Belt Selection helped the Dukes win 10 of their last 12 games to close the regular season.

A Third Team All-Sun Belt Selection, Lindsay averaged 13.6 points per game, 2.6 rebounds, and 2.2 assists during the regular season. He lead the Sun Belt and ranked 25th nationally in 3-point percentage (.415). He’s just the second player in program history to be named Freshman of the Year while also being named all-conference, joining William Davis in the 1988-89 season.

The Dukes are the No. 2 seed in the upcoming Sun Belt Conference Tournament. They received a bye to the semifinals. Their first game is March 9 at 8:30 p.m. ET.