Sun Belt Women’s Basketball 2024-25 Year-In-Review

NEW ORLEANS –  The Sun Belt Conference’s 2024-25 women’s basketball campaign featured historic moments from the season tipoff through to the postseason.

MARCH MADNESS: Arkansas State (21-11, 15-3) secured the 2025 Sun Belt Conference Women’s Basketball Championship for the first time in program history and earned its first ever NCAA Tournament bid. They earned the No. 15 seed and played the eventual National Champion, UConn. Despite the loss in the opening round it was a historic season for the Red Wolves.

WBIT: James Madison (30-6, 18-0) was the Sun Belt’s Regular Season Champion and earned the top seed in the Women’s Basketball Invitational Tournament (WBIT). The Dukes make it all the way to the quarterfinals before suffering a loss to Belmont, 90-45.

WNIT: Troy (24-14,13-5), Old Dominion (18-16, 9-9) and Coastal Carolina (23-9, 12-6) participated in the Women’s National Invitational Tournament (WNIT). Coastal Carolina lost in the first round to Campbell (55-57) and Old Dominion lost in the second round to Purdue Fort Wayne (87-61). Troy made their way through the field and faced Buffalo in the WNIT Championship. They would fall 88-84 to Buffalo, while Zay Dyer and Briana Peguero earned WNIT All-Tournament honors.

ARKANSAS STATE’S STATEMENT: The No. 2 seed Arkansas State defeated No. 1 seed James Madison, 86-79, in the 2025 Sun Belt Conference Championship final. The Red Wolves defeated Troy (81-66) to advance into the championship where they would take down the Dukes and earn the first Sun Belt Tournament Title in program history. The feat comes after the Red Wolves were chosen to finish 13th in the league in the preseason poll voted on by the leagues head coaches.

THE REGULAR SEASON CHAMPS: James Madison went 18-0 in league play to claim the Sun Belt Regular Season Title. It was the Dukes second Sun Belt Regular Season Title since splitting the crown with Southern Miss and Texas State in 2023. The Dukes also notched a 30 win season, the first in program history.

 

FOUR WITH 20+: James Madison (30), Troy (24), Coastal Carolina (23) and Arkansas State (21) concluded the 2024-25 season with 20or more wins. It marks the third-consecutive year with four of more teams with at least 20 wins. James Madison has reached the milestone in three straight seasons.

 

REBOUND QUEENS: Troy finished the season ranked first in the country in rebounds per game at 49.05 and second in the nation in defensive rebounds per game with 32.9. The Trojans were led by Dyer who ranked 16^th in the nation with 10.4 rebounds per game.

NATIONAL LEADERS: Sun Belt teams programs among the nation’s leaders in numerous statistical categories throughout the season:

 
Additionally, multiple players were among the nation’s best in multiple statistical categories:
 

COACHING MILESTONE:  Chanda Rigby surpassed 250 career wins as the Trojan’s head coach (255) and has the most wins among active head coaches in the Sun Belt. James Madison’s Sean O’Regan surpassed 200 career wins as a head coach, he accumulated 210 by the end of the season.