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BEAVER TOWNSHIP -- As she prepares for her third season at the helm of the Youngstown State women's basketball program, head coach Melissa Jackson is poised for what she believes will be a breakout season by her team.
In just two seasons, she has taken the Penguins from 12-19 overall (7-13 in the Horizon League) in her first year, to 25-10 a season ago - they posted a 15-5 league mark, finishing second in the regular season and runners-up in the post-season tournament. Last season was the program's first berth in the Horizon League postseason championship.
Despite their 57-49 loss to Green Bay in the conference championship, their 13-game overall and eight-game league turnaround, along with seven returnees from last season's squad, has Jackson and staff cautiously optimistic entering the upcoming campaign.
"The program is definitely headed in the right direction and we ended last year with a lot of success," Jackson told the Curbstone Coaches during Monday's meeting at Avion Banquet Center. "We broke some records but honestly, we just continued getting better over the course of the year. The team peaked at the right time and was playing their best basketball when they needed to be playing their best.
"We came up short of our year-end goal, and that was winning the Horizon league championship, but man did we get a lot of experience with such a young group. That was very, very important for us as we get ready to take the next step. We hosted and won a WNIT postseason game on our home floor, while the crowd and support from our community was truly amazing. I feel like the program is in a really good place, and heading into this season, we are going to rely on those experiences from last year to hopefully replicate, perhaps even do a little bit more this season."
A fifth-year player, three seniors, five juniors, a sophomore and two freshmen dot this year's 12-player roster with Jada Leonard (Cleveland State) the fifth-year player, and Paulina Hernandez, Mia Kalich (Seton Hill) and Dacia Lewandowski the three senior leaders.
The five juniors include Danielle Cameron, Erica King, Hayden Barrier, Sarah Baker and Gemma Walker (St. Francis, Pa.), Brooke Adkins is the lone sophomore with Evelyn McKnight and Kaitlyn Turinsky incoming freshmen.
The seven returnees are Cameron, King, Barrier, Hernandez, Lewandowski, Adkins and Baker.
Jackson made sure she utilized the offseason as prep and bonding time for the 2026-27 season.
"We had to take a breath after last season because we were playing so late, almost until April," Jackson said. "Then, we had to quickly re-evaluate our roster, needed to re-recruit our current kids, retain them as much as we could and we were able to do that. I am really happy to bring back those seven returnees to the program because they are very important to this year’s team. We had to navigate the portal to continue to get older and bring in more experienced players. I felt our coaching staff did a great job of targeting what we really needed out of the portal, which was to bring in another three players that I think really fit us culturally and could have a great experience here. All will really help us sooner than later and continue to take this program to new heights.
Jackson cited a productive summer focused on team bonding.
"In June, I brought everybody back because, for me, summer is all about team bonding and chemistry building, so that was really good for us to do. I thought our players really bonded because we did some things as a program that we normally do, then a lot of organic chemistry took place between them," Jackson said. "After that, we hit the court, worked on our transition offense, and that’s something that we always do in the summer. We had conditioning, really got after it in the weight room, and I cannot say enough about how proud I am of them and how much they committed to that side of things.
"It was a great summer, incorporating all the new pieces with the old and really mixing them right away. It helps that they bonded and want to continue to do something really special as a group. That was a big reason we were able to retain so many players, because we have some big-time goals for this program. As I said before, we want to reach new heights and cut down the nets, but they know it takes plenty of hard work."
In addition to the Horizon League portion of their slate - the team is ranked No. 2 in the league's pre-season poll - Jackson added four Mid-American Conference teams, Colorado from the Big 12 and one of the nation's top teams, the USC Trojans of the Big Ten Conference.
"I know this group can handle such a challenging schedule and I really love how it all came together," Jackson said. "It was a challenge and every game will be a great test to kind of see where we stand. Also, we are scrimmaging another MAC school, so we will find out very early where we are at with everything. Then, there are two Power 4 games. I have always been one who tries to put at least one power conference team on my schedule, but we are playing two because I do think that this group can handle the challenge.
"USC could potentially be the No. 1-ranked team in the country when we play them, but it will be a cool experience for our team to play an elite program that is going to compete for a national championship. They will get to see Los Angeles and experience that, plus Colorado will be a Top-25 program. That will be another great challenge for us and another cool part of the country that a lot of my student-athletes have never seen. I am a big proponent for challenging them while providing life experiences that 10, maybe 20 years from now, they won't remember the final score, but they will remember the trip, areas they visited, will recall that they were guarded by an All-American and got to see the Santa Monica pier. They will have those stories and memories for a lifetime."
Next week, YSU head football coach Doug Phillips will serve as guest speaker.