NEW ORLEANS - Sun Belt women's basketball teams will look to turn up the heat as they prepare to enter into the final month of the regular season. 

GAME OF THE WEEK
The Sun Belt women’s basketball game of the week features two of the top teams in the league with Georgia Southern (17-5, 8-2) hosting Arkansas State (18-4, 9-1) on Saturday in their only meeting of the regular season. Arkansas State stands a game above Georgia Southern in the league standings and just took down the defending Sun Belt regular season champions, James Madison, to improve to 9-1 in league play. The Red Wolves singular loss in Sun Belt action is to Troy (16-4, 7-2). Georgia Southern is tied for second in the league standings with Marshall (15-5, 8-2) and have won 14 of their last 16 games. The game features a battle between two of the league most dynamic guards in Arkansas State’s Crislyn Rose and Georgia Southern’s Destiny Garrett. Garrett leads the Eagles in scoring (15.4 ppg) and is the leagues assist leader (4.4 ast). Rose was a preseason first team All-Sun Belt selection and averages 12.4 points per game and is third in the league with 4.3 assists per game.
 
QUEENS OF THE BOARDS
Troy has officially made its way back to the top of the stat column in rebounds with a 50.80 per game average. The Trojan’s Zay Dyer and Fortuna Ngnawo lead the team in boards with 12.1 and 10.0, respectively. Dyer’s 12.1 ranks third nationally while Ngnawo’s 10.0 ranks 26^th. The pair also average double digit scoring figures, making them the only teammates in the country to average a double-double. Troy also leads the Sun Belt in scoring (84.4 ppg) and assists (15.60).
 
SECOND YEAR SPOTLIGHT
Marshall’s Juli Fulks and Georgia Southern’s Hana Haden joined the Sun Belt coaching ranks last season, beginning their D1 head coaching journey’s. Both coaches currently have their teams tied for second in the league standings with 8-2 league records. The two teams have already surpassed their conference win totals from last season as Sun Belt league play reaches the midway point. The two teams are slated to meet twice in the regular season, having late February meetings before the conference tournament.
 
TEXAS STATE TAKES TWO IN A ROW
Texas State improved to 5-4 in league play and moved up the standings after an undefeated week with wins over App State and Old Dominion. Kyra Anderson showed up bigtime for the Bobcats in both wins, earning the Sun Belt women’s basketball player of the week honor for the first time in her career. She recorded back-to-back double-doubles and shot 46.9 percent from the field. The sophomore’s six double-doubles are the fifth most in the league. Texas State hits the road this week with trips to Coastal Carolina (10-11. 3-6) and Georgia State (9-12, 4-5).
 
IN THE NET
Five Sun Belt teams rank in the top 100 of the NET. James Madison has the best NET at 58, followed by Troy (69), Georgia Southern (71), Arkansas State (81) and Marshall (99).

PARTY IN PENSACOLA
The 2026 Visit Pensacola Sun Belt Women’s Basketball Championship presented by Air Force Reserve will be held March 3-9, 2026 at the Pensacola Bay Center in Pensacola, Fla., The championship game will be televised nationally on ESPN2 on Monday, March 9. The 2026 tournament will mark the sixth consecutive season the Sun Belt hosts the event in Pensacola, which will remain at the venue through the 2029-30 campaign. A different program has been crowned champion in each of the first five years in Pensacola: Arkansas State (2025), Marshall (2024), James Madison (2023), UTA (2022) and Troy (2021).

IMPACT PLAYERS – Sun Belt Statistical Leaders

PPG: Peyton McDaniel, JMU, 18.4
FG%: Cordasia Harris, USA, .558
3FG%: Emani Jenkins, Troy, .446
FT%: Saniya Burks, TXST, .842
RPG: Zay Dyer, TROY, 12.1
BPG: Riley Stack, ODU, 2.5
APG: Nakiyah Mays-Price, ULM, 4.4
SPG: Timaya Lewis-Eutsey, MAR, 3.5

 WHERE TO WATCH

Date	Time	Matchup	ESPN+
Weds., Jan. 28	5:00 p.m.	Southern Miss at Georiga Southern	ESPN+
Weds., Jan. 28	5:00 p.m.	Texas State at Coastal Carolina	ESPN+
Weds., Jan. 28	5:00 p.m.	Troy at Marshall	ESPN+
Weds., Jan. 28	5:00 p.m.	ULM at Old Dominion	ESPN+
Thurs., Jan 29	10:00 a.m.	Arkansas State at Georiga Southern	ESPN+
Thurs., Jan 29	5:00 p.m.	Louisiana at James Madison	ESPN+
Thurs, Jan. 29	5:30 p.m.	South Alabama at App State	ESPN+
Saturday, Jan. 30	12:00 p.m.	Troy at Coastal Carolina	ESPN+
Saturday, Jan. 30	12:00 p.m.	ULM at App State	ESPN+
Saturday, Jan. 30	12:00 p.m.	Louisiana at Marshall	ESPN+
Saturday, Jan. 30	12:00 p.m.	South Alabama at James Madison	ESPN+
Saturday, Jan. 30	1:00 p.m.	Southern Miss at Old Dominion	ESPN+
Saturday, Jan. 30	1:00 p.m.	Arkansas State at Georiga Southern	ESPN+
Saturday, Jan. 30	1:00 p.m.	Texas State at Georiga State	ESPN+

All Times CT