TIPPING OFF: The 41st season of Sun Belt Conference Women’s Basketball is slated to begin on Monday, November 6. The league was initiated with the start of the 1982-83 campaign.
BOW DOWN TO THE DUKES: James Madison was predicted to win the 2023-24 Sun Belt Conference crown in a vote of the league’s 14 head coaches. The Dukes garnered nine first-place votes. James Madison is coming off a 26-8 (13-5 SBC) season that saw the Dukes capture the Sun Belt Championship Tournament title and earn an NCAA Tournament berth, the program’s first since the 2015-16 season. The Dukes return eight from their championship squad a year ago, including 2023 Sun Belt Sixth Woman of the Year, Peyton McDaniel.
DOM-INATING: Southern Miss guard Domonique Davis was selected as the 2023-24 Sun Belt Conference Women’s Basketball Preseason Player of the Year. Davis was a First-Team All-Sun Belt Conference selection and Gilom Trophy finalist in 2022-23. The guard from DeRidder, La., enjoyed a career year last season, setting personal bests in almost every statistical category after appearing in 30 games and making 29 starts. Davis scored a career-best and team-leading 541 points to average 18.0 points per game a year ago, a mark that ranked third in the conference. She also finished in double-figure scoring in 27 contests, crossing the 20-point margin 13 times.
FIRST THINGS FIRST: Sun Belt women’s basketball will feature a slew of experienced players, highlighted by its Preseason All-Sun Belt First Team selections. In addition to Davis, Georgia Southern’s Terren Ward, Arkansas State’s Izzy Higginbottom, Troy’s Makayia Hallmon, and Marshall’s Roshala Scott received First-Team recognition.
A two-time All-Sun Belt Conference selection and the 2020-21 Sun Belt Freshman of the Year, Georgia Southern’s Terren Ward led the Sun Belt Conference in scoring a year ago (18.5 ppg) and was also named the 2022-23 Georgia Women's Basketball Player of the Year as awarded by the Atlanta TipOff Club. The Jesup, Ga., native became the 25th Eagle to pass 1,000 career points during the 2022-23 campaign and she enters the 2023-24 season trying to become the first three-time All-Conference honoree since Sharon Mitchell was a three-time All-SoCon selection from 1998-2001.
Izzy Higginbottom is entering her second season in the Arkansas State backcourt and earned Sun Belt Newcomer of the Year billing last season after averaging 16.0 points, 3.4 assists and 1.8 steals per game. The Batesville, Ark., native shot a school-record 91.1 percent from the free-throw line (102-112), ranking eighth nationally, and finished the season with a streak of 46 consecutive free throws made – also a program record.
Makayia Hallmon returns for her senior season at Troy after earning second team honors after 2022-23. The Coushatta, La., native started 29-of-30 games for 25.7 minutes to lead the Trojans with 15 points on 37.1 percent from the field – ranked eighth in the conference. She peaked with a career-high 33-point performance on 14-of-25 from the field at James Madison en route to 12 straight games in double figures to end the season. Hallmon remains an offensive threat on multiple levels, ending 2022-23 ranked 11
th in the league in free throw shooting at 78.2 percent.
In Marshall's first season in the Sun Belt last year, Scott was first in the league with 196 field goals made. The senior made 44.5 percent of her shots, which was sixth-best in the conference. Her 17.7 points per game finished fourth in the conference. Scott has finished in double figures scoring in 27 of Marshall's 29 regular season games.
2022-23 REWIND: The 2022-23 season ushered in a new era of Sun Belt Women’s Basketball with the addition of four schools: James Madison, Marshall, Old Dominion, and Southern Miss. Each new institution brought with it a rich history of strong women’s basketball programs. Three of the four new members – James Madison, Southern Miss, and Old Dominion – finished the season with 20-plus victories and earned a spot in the 2023 Sun Belt Women’s Basketball Championship semifinals. Out of the four new schools, four players earned a spot on All-Sun Belt Teams, two players garnered End-of-Year Award distinction, and four players were recognized on the 2023 All-Tournament Team.
MAC-SBC CHALLENGE: The MAC-SBC Challenge—a scheduling alliance in the sports of men’s and women’s basketball—will tip off during the opening week of the 2023-24 season this November with 12 Sun Belt Conference (SBC) men’s basketball programs traveling to compete against the 12 Mid-American Conference (MAC) teams and the 12 MAC women’s basketball teams visiting 12 SBC programs. The second MAC-SBC Challenge contest for each team will take place on Saturday, Feb. 10, 2024, with the matchups set based on real-time NET rankings and announced in January. The MAC women and Sun Belt men will host the February matchups. Each MAC and Sun Belt team included in the MAC-SBC Challenge, currently scheduled to take place during the 2023-24 and 2024-25 campaigns, is guaranteed one home and one away game each season.
| Date |
Game |
Time |
| Wednesday, Nov. 8 |
Toledo at James Madison |
6:00 p.m. |
| Thursday, Nov. 9 |
Northern Illinois at Arkansas State |
11:00 a.m. |
| Thursday, Nov. 9 |
Central Michigan at South Alabama |
7:00 p.m. |
| Friday, Nov. 10 |
Western Michigan at Georgia State |
5:30 p.m. |
| Saturday, Nov. 11 |
Eastern Michigan at Georgia Southern |
1:00 p.m. |
| Saturday, Nov. 11 |
Ohio at App State |
1:00 p.m. |
| Saturday, Nov. 11 |
Akron at Southern Miss |
2:00 p.m. |
| Saturday, Nov. 11 |
Bowling Green at Texas State |
2:00 p.m. |
| Saturday, Nov. 11 |
Buffalo at Old Dominion |
3:00 p.m. |
| Saturday, Nov. 11 |
Ball State at Troy |
3:33 p.m. |
| Saturday, Nov. 11 |
Miami (OH) at ULM |
7:00 p.m. |
| Sunday, Nov. 12 |
Kent State at Louisiana |
4:00 p.m. |
*All Times CT.
MCNELIS STRONG: Southern Miss women’s basketball head coach Joye Lee-McNelis remains #McNelisStrong following the diagnosis that her stage 4 lung cancer, adenocarcinoma, has recurred. Entering her 20th-year at the helm of Lady Eagle basketball, McNelis has no plans on taking a backseat in coaching as Southern Miss looks to defend its Sun Belt Conference regular season title. Coach McNelis asks for nothing more than prayers for herself and has partnered with the Hospital Patient Navigation Program at Forrest General Hospital to provide assistance to other cancer patients in need. For more information, go to
smttt.info/McNelisStrong and select the Coach McNelis Fund from the dropdown menu.
CHAMPIONSHIP ON THE COAST: Tickets for the
2024 Sun Belt Conference Men’s & Women’s Basketball Tournaments are slated to go on sale December 1. All 14 Sun Belt men’s and women’s basketball teams will compete in the single-elimination tournament from March 5-11 at the Pensacola Bay Center in Pensacola, Fla.
PRESEASON NEWS AND NOTES
Sun Belt Reveals 2023-24 Women’s Basketball Conference Slate
Southern Miss, Joye Lee-McNelis Remain #McNelisStrong
James Madison Headlines Sun Belt Women’s Basketball Preseason Coaches Poll
Veteran & Reloaded Rosters Take Center Stage at Sun Belt Women’s Basketball Media Day