2025–26 Youngstown State Penguins women's basketball team

2025–26 Youngstown State Penguins women's basketball
2025–26 Youngstown State Penguins women's basketball
Conference	Horizon League
Record	19–8 (12–5 Horizon)
Head coach	Melissa Jackson (2nd season);
Assistant coaches	Courtney Davidson; Kayla DeCriscio; Shayna Gore;
Home arena	Beeghly Center

2025–26 Horizon League women's basketball standings
	Conf.				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Green Bay	15	–	2	.882	20	–	7	.741
Youngstown State	12	–	5	.706	19	–	8	.704
Purdue Fort Wayne	10	–	6	.625	16	–	10	.615
Northern Kentucky	10	–	6	.625	13	–	14	.481
Cleveland State	10	–	7	.588	20	–	8	.714
Robert Morris	9	–	8	.529	16	–	10	.615
IU Indy	7	–	9	.438	11	–	14	.440
Wright State	5	–	11	.313	9	–	18	.333
Oakland	5	–	11	.313	8	–	18	.308
Milwaukee	4	–	12	.250	8	–	19	.296
Detroit Mercy	3	–	13	.188	5	–	20	.200

† 2026 Horizon League tournament winner As of February 15, 2026

The 2025–26 Youngstown State Penguins women's basketball team represents Youngstown State University during the 2025–26 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Penguins, led by second-year head coach Melissa Jackson, play their home games at the Beeghly Center in Youngstown, Ohio as members of the Horizon League.

Previous season

The Penguins finished the 2024–25 season 12–19, 7–13 in Horizon League play, to finish in a tie for eighth place.^[1] They were defeated by Wright State in the first round of the Horizon League tournament.^[2]

Roster

2025–26 Youngstown State Penguins women's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Year	Previous school	Hometown
G	2	Danielle Cameron	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)	RS Fr	Olmsted Falls High School	Olmsted Falls, OH
G	4	Erica King	5 ft 7 in (1.7 m)	So	St. Vincent–St. Mary High School	Akron, OH
G	5	Hayden Barrier	5 ft 7 in (1.7 m)	So	Montgomery County High School	Mount Sterling, KY
F	7	Paulina Hernandez	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	Jr	Cleveland State	Oak Creek, WI
G	12	Dacia Lewandowski	5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)	So	Akron	Butler, PA
G	14	Casey Santoro (6Y)	5 ft 4 in (1.63 m)	RS Sr	Florida Gulf Coast	Bellevue, OH
G	20	Brooke Adkins	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	Fr	Wayne High School	Wayne, WV
F	21	Sophia Gregory	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	So	West Branch High School	Alliance, OH
F	22	Faith Burch	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	RS Sr	Cleveland State	Warren, OH
G	24	Bella Samz	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)	Jr	Arrowhead High School	Oconomowoc, WI
F	44	Ashlynn Van Tassell	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	RS Fr	Cameron High School	Cameron, WV
F	50	Sarah Baker	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	RS Fr	Ryle High School	Florence, KY

Head coach

Melissa Jackson (Richmond)

Assistant coach(es)

Courtney Davidson (Michigan State)
Kayla DeCriscio (Pitt–Johnstown)
Shayna Gore (Marshall)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on
(6Y) Sixth-year senior
Injured
Current redshirt

Roster
Last update: November 22, 2025

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
November 3, 2025* 11:00 a.m., ESPN+	Thiel	W 104–33	1–0	Beeghly Center (3,101) Youngstown, OH
November 7, 2025* 8:00 p.m., Midco Sports Plus	at North Dakota	W 65–58	2–0	Betty Engelstad Sioux Center (1,497) Grand Forks, ND
November 12, 2025* 6:30 p.m., B1G+	at Michigan State	L 52–96	2–1	Breslin Center (2,542) East Lansing, MI
November 16, 2025* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+	Bucknell	W 60–53	3–1	Beeghly Center (1,293) Youngstown, OH
November 20, 2025* 6:00 p.m., NEC Front Row	at Mercyhurst	W 64–50	4–1	Mercyhurst Athletic Center (332) Erie, PA
November 25, 2025* 6:30 p.m., ESPN+	Toledo	L 65–69	4–2	Beeghly Center (1,342) Youngstown, OH
November 30, 2025* 12:00 p.m., ESPN+	at Akron	W 90–63	5–2	James A. Rhodes Arena (954) Akron, OH
December 5, 2025 7:00 p.m., ESPN+	at Milwaukee	W 68–56	6–2 (1–0)	Klotsche Center (435) Milwaukee, WI
December 7, 2025 12:30 p.m., ESPN+	at Green Bay	L 47–56	6–3 (1–1)	Kress Events Center (1,610) Green Bay, WI
December 16, 2025 6:30 p.m., ESPN+	Wright State	W 65–46	7–3 (2–1)	Beeghly Center (1,153) Youngstown, OH
December 19, 2025* 11:00 a.m., ESPN+	at FIU FIU Christmas Classic	L 61–78	7–4	Ocean Bank Convocation Center (126) Miami, FL
December 20, 2025* 1:30 p.m., ESPN+	vs. UMass FIU Christmas Classic	W 72–69	8–4	Ocean Bank Convocation Center (82) Miami, FL
December 29, 2025 4:00 p.m., ESPN+	at Cleveland State	W 70–63	9–4 (3–1)	Wolstein Center (404) Cleveland, OH
December 31, 2025* 1:00 p.m., ESPN+	Salem	W 97–20	10–4	Beeghly Center (1,292) Youngstown, OH
January 5, 2026 6:30 p.m., ESPN+	Oakland	W 81–58	11–4 (4–1)	Beeghly Center (1,141) Youngstown, OH
January 8, 2026 7:17 p.m., ESPN+	Northern Kentucky	L 49–61	11–5 (4–2)	Beeghly Center (1,400) Youngstown, OH
January 10, 2026 2:00 p.m., ESPN+	Purdue Fort Wayne	W 58−54	12−5 (5−2)	Beeghly Center (1,294) Youngstown, OH
January 14, 2026 7:00 p.m., ESPN+	at Wright State	W 78–67 ^OT	13–5 (6–2)	Nutter Center (1,085) Fairborn, OH
January 17, 2026 2:00 p.m., ESPN+	IU Indy	L 52–61	13–7 (6–3)	Beeghly Center (1,271) Youngstown, OH
January 21, 2026 6:00 p.m., ESPN+	at Robert Morris	L 40–55	13–7 (6–4)	UPMC Events Center (873) Moon Township, PA
January 25, 2026 6:00 pm, ESPN+	Cleveland State	W 61–38	14–7 (7–4)	Beeghly Center (30) Youngstown, OH
January 29, 2026 7:00 p.m., ESPN+	at Detroit Mercy	W 69–53	15–7 (8–4)	Calihan Hall (315) Detroit, MI
January 31, 2026 2:00 p.m., ESPN+	at Oakland	W 72–60	16–7 (9–4)	OU Credit Union O'rena (unknown) Rochester, MI
February 5, 2026 6:30 p.m., ESPN+	Milwaukee	W 79–48	17–7 (10–4)	Beeghly Center (1,318) Youngstown, OH
February 7, 2026 2:00 p.m., ESPN+	Green Bay	L 51–54	17–8 (10–5)	Beeghly Center (1,937) Youngstown, OH
February 11, 2026 6:30 p.m., ESPN+	Robert Morris	W 69–62 ^OT	18–8 (11–5)	Beeghly Center (1,509) Youngstown, OH
February 15, 2026 1:00 p.m., ESPN+	at IU Indy	W 69–65	19–8 (12–5)	The Jungle (375) Indianapolis, IN
February 19, 2026 6:00 p.m., ESPN+	at Northern Kentucky			Truist Arena Highland Heights, KY
February 21, 2026 2:00 p.m., ESPN+	at Purdue Fort Wayne			Gates Sports Center Fort Wayne, IN
February 25, 2026 6:30 p.m., ESPN+	Detroit Mercy			Beeghly Center Youngstown, OH
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern.

Sources:^[3]^[4]

References

^ "2024-25 Women's Basketball Standings". Horizon League. Retrieved November 22, 2025.
^ Bissell, Brittany (March 4, 2025). "YSU women fall to Wright State in Horizon League Tournament". WFMJ. Retrieved November 22, 2025.
^ "2025-26 Women's Basketball Schedule". Youngstown State University Athletics. Retrieved November 22, 2025.
^ "Youngstown State Penguins Schedule 2025-26". ESPN. Retrieved November 22, 2025.

[1] "2024-25 Women's Basketball Standings". Horizon League. Retrieved November 22, 2025.

[2] Bissell, Brittany (March 4, 2025). "YSU women fall to Wright State in Horizon League Tournament". WFMJ. Retrieved November 22, 2025.

[3] "2025-26 Women's Basketball Schedule". Youngstown State University Athletics. Retrieved November 22, 2025.

[4] "Youngstown State Penguins Schedule 2025-26". ESPN. Retrieved November 22, 2025.

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[3]

[4]

Youngstown State Penguins women's basketball
Venues	Beeghly Center (1975–present)
Culture & lore	Pete and Penny
People	Head coaches
Seasons	List of seasons 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25 2025–26