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PENSACOLA, Fla. -- Marshall and James Madison will meet in Monday’s Hercules Tires Sun Belt Women’s Basketball Championship Final. 
 
The 2024 Sun Belt Regular Season Champion Herd will look for the season sweep as they enter Monday’s final with a 19-1 mark against league foes in their 2023-24 campaign. Monday’s meeting between the Herd and the Dukes will also mark their third clash this season. The teams split the regular season series with each winning on their opponent’s home floor. 
 
Marshall will face the reigning Sun Belt Conference Champions in James Madison. The Dukes are undefeated in the Pensacola Bay Center, boasting an impressive 5-0 record in the tournament. 
 
The 2024 Hercules Tires Sun Belt Women’s Basketball Championship will tip off on Monday, March 11 at 1 p.m. CT at the Pensacola Bay Center. The game will be broadcast nationally on ESPNU.
 
(1) Marshall 76, (4) Old Dominion 70 [Box Score]
 
Marshall used a huge third-quarter performance to rally from a halftime deficit for a 76-70 win over Old Dominion in the Hercules Tires Sun Belt Conference semifinals at Pensacola Bay Center on Sunday afternoon.
  
With the win, Marshall moves to 25-6 on the season, which eclipses the program's all-time record for wins in a single season. It breaks the previous mark of 24, set in the 1986-87 season.
 
Abby Beeman scored 22 points and added six assists to lead Marshall while Aislynn Hayes scored 20 points. Breanna Campbell and Sydni Scott each added 13 in the win.
 
For the third time in as many games against the Monarchs, the third quarter proved to be the difference. On Sunday, Marshall turned up its pressure defense, scoring 13 points off of 10 Old Dominion turnovers during the third quarter while outscoring ODU, 21-8, during the period.
 
The biggest surge came in the final 25 seconds of the frame. After Hayes had tied the game at 47 on a layup, Beeman knocked down a 3-pointer to give Marshall its first lead since the first quarter before getting a steal and a layup before the buzzer to push the lead to 52-47.
 
It was part of a stretch in which Beeman took the game over, scoring 11 of 13 points during a 19-2 run in which the Herd built its biggest lead at 64-49.
 
Marshall scored 30 points off turnovers in earning the victory over ODU – its third over the Monarchs this season. 
 
(3) James Madison 64, (7) Louisiana 54 [Box Score]
 
Third-seeded James Madison will have a shot to repeat as conference champions, as it started quick and held off a late rally by No. 7 Louisiana for a 64-54 victory on Sunday afternoon in the semifinal round of the 2024 Sun Belt Conference Women’s Basketball Championship at the Pensacola Bay Center.
 
The Dukes improve to 23-10 on the year after leading wire-to-wire and advance to Monday’s Sun Belt title game, where they will face top-seeded Marshall (25-6). 
 
With the loss, the Ragin’ Cajuns end their season with a 17-14 record. 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 James Madison will play for a conference championship, holding a 10-9 mark in previous berths.
 
Peyton McDaniel tied for game-high honors with 13 points, making a pair of three pointers and adding four rebounds. Kseniia Kozlova was crucial off the bench in her second game back from injury, finishing with 12 points on five-of-six shooting with seven rebounds.
 
Ashanti Barnes was a force on the glass, finishing with a career-high 14 rebounds while also scoring eight points and dishing out a career-best four assists. Jamia Hazell also accrued eight points, while Chloe Sterline was one dime shy of her career high, tallying a game-high five.
 
For Louisiana, Destiny Rice came off the bench to match McDaniel’s 13 points on 5-of-9 shooting. Brandi Williams also finished with 11 points.
 
James Madison shot 38.8 percent (19/49 FG) for the game while the Cajuns were held to 31 percent (18/58 FG). The Dukes smothered the Ragin’ Cajuns on the glass by a 53-25 margin, which included a 19-8 lead on the offensive end. 
 
The Dukes led by as many as 11 points, and Louisiana came within a point in the third quarter and four late in the fourth before the Dukes closed the semifinal with the game’s final six points at the free throw line.
 
2024 Hercules Tires Sun Belt Women’s Basketball Championship
 
Tuesday, March 5
Game 1 – (12) Georgia Southern 72, (13) Texas State 70
Game 2 – (11) Coastal Carolina 79, (14) South Alabama 60
 
Wednesday, March 6
Game 3 – (9) App State 73, (8) Georgia State 68
Game 4 – (5) ULM 78, (12) Georgia Southern 57
Game 5 – (6) Southern Miss 70, (11) Coastal Carolina 53
Game 6 – (7) Louisiana 54, (10) Arkansas State 41
 
Friday, March 8
Game 7 – (1) Marshall vs. (9) App State   
Game 8 – (4) Old Dominion 67, (5) ULM 64
Game 9 – (3) James Madison 77,  (6) Southern Miss 49
Game 10 – (7) Louisiana 67, (2) Troy 65
 
Sunday, March 10
Game 11 – (1) Marshall 76, (4) Old Dominion 70
Game 12 – (3) James Madison 64, (7) Louisiana 54
 
Monday, March 11
Game 13 – (1) Marshall vs. (3) James Madison – 1:00 p.m. CT