Youngstown State is coming off their best season since 2021-22. They recorded an impressive 25-10 overall record, finished in second place in the Horizon League, and were one win shy of making their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2000. They eventually made the WNIT Super Sixteen before bowing out to Marshall.
YSU also doubled its win total from the season before and was just one win short of matching the win total from the program’s previous two seasons combined (26).
The good news is that head coach Melissa Jackson feels that her team will not miss a beat in the upcoming 2026-27 season, despite losing the sharpshooting Casey Santoro to exhaustion of eligibility and Horizon League Defensive Player of the Year Sophia Gregory to the transfer portal.
The Penguins were one of the best defensive teams in the country last year, as they ranked tied for seventh in the nation with UC-Santa Barbara in opponent three-point percentage (26.0) and were also 17th in opponent overall field goal percentage (36.5). In addition, they finished in a four-way tie for 23rd with NJIT, UConn, and Ole Miss in team blocks per game (4.9).
However, their offensive numbers were middle of the road in terms of scoring (66.4 points per game). But Coach Jackson wants to turn that around in the 2026-27 campaign. “Offensively, we want to play a little faster than we did last year,” she stated. “I think we have some more depth this year that will allow us to do that at times. I believe we have some of the strongest post players in our league, so establishing our post game will be important. We have tremendous shooters around them and then some very good three-level scoring point guards that bring a lot of versatility to our team. Defensively, not much will change. We were really good defensively last year in many categories, and I think we have a chance to be even better this year.”
As an added bonus, the Penguins had the same starting lineup for all 35 games: Santoro, Gregory, Sarah Baker, Erica King, and Danielle Cameron.
“It was definitely a good summer,” Cameron said. “I think based off what Coach [Jackson] said, it was just acclimating the whole team together with the new people: the transfers, the freshmen with the returners. So just getting used to how we are on the court, but also off the court, just like knowing the summer’s really hard. So we go through that struggle, some may say together, and then once we’re in practice now, it’s just for fun.”
In the backcourt, besides King and Cameron, is a returning Hayden Barrier. Another one to watch is Cleveland State transfer Jada Leonard, who was a member of last year’s Horizon League All-Defensive Team and ranked 21st in the nation with 2.9 steals per game.
The frontcourt, besides Baker, is Horizon League Sixth Player of the Year Paulina Hernandez and Division II All-American Mia Kalich.
“I think all of our returners have gotten better in different areas, and that is a credit to their work ethic and how hungry they are for this season,” Jackson said on the team’s summer practices. “If I had to pick a few that I feel will have a big year from us, I think you have to look at Jada Leonard. She is an experienced point guard who has had great success already in the HL [Horizon League]. Paulina Hernandez had a great year coming off the bench for us last year. I think she is more confident and she could have a bigger role this year. Sarah Baker had a great year as well and was very consistent for us in league play. She has also gotten stronger this summer and has developed some more things to her game. Erica King and Danielle Cameron are going to both have big roles for us as they did last year. Mia Kalich is so versatile and fun to coach. She could have a big impact on our roster as well.”
Returning Players
6-2 junior Sarah Baker averaged 11.5 points and had 23 double-figure scoring games. She not only made the Horizon League All-Freshman Team, but she had the conference’s third-best field-goal percentage (.525) and set YSU’s freshman scoring record (404) as well.
5-9 junior Danielle Cameron averaged 8.9 points a game last year and set the freshman record for most made threes in a season (73).
5-7 junior Erica King recorded a career-high 9.9 points per game and 2.7 assists per contest while recording 51 made threes and 47 steals as a sophomore in 2025-26.
Hayden Barrier is a 5-7 junior who broke a barrier in terms of her minutes, as they doubled from 6.1 per game as a freshman in 2024-25 to 12.8 minutes as a sophomore in 2025-26.
Brooke Adkins is a 6-0 sophomore that played in 22 games as a freshman in 2025-26.
6-2 Paulina Hernandez ranked 26th in the country last year with 63 rejections, which was the third-most in school history. She posted career-high averages of 7.4 points per game, 49.2 percent shooting from the field, and 37.7 percent on threes.
5-11 senior Dacia Lewandowski played in 31 of 35 games off the bench as a team captain in 2025-26.
Incoming Players
Jada Leonard is a 5-8 fifth-year point guard playing for her fourth school. She already has recorded 1,062 points, 222 steals and 217 assists in 92 career NCAA games. Leonard began her career at Saint Peter’s (2002-24) and redshirted the 2024-25 season at Bryant.
Gemma Walker is a 5-10 junior guard who spent her first collegiate seasons at Saint Francis (PA). Last season with the Red Flash, she averaged 7.6 points, 2.7 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 25 games (16 starts).
Mia Kalich is a 6-0 senior forward who played the first three years of her collegiate career at Division II Seton Hill University in suburban Pittsburgh. During that time, she was one free throw shy of 1,000 points. Kalich also totaled 888 rebounds, 295 steals, 268 assists and 57 blocks while shooting 61.9 percent on field goals in 91 career games. In the last two seasons, Kalich averaged a double-double and was named the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) West Defensive Player of the Year both times.
Evelyn McKnight – standing 5-10 – was not only the Ohio Division III Player of the Year and First-Team All-Ohio as a senior at Copley High School in 2025-26, but she also owns the school’s scoring record.
Kaitlyn Turinsky, YSU’s tallest player at 6-3, was the Ohio Division IV Player of the Year and First-Team All-Ohio as a senior at Bellevue High School in 2025-26. She led them to a 28-1 record and their first-ever state championship in 2025. She was also the MVP of the state title game.
Projected Starting Lineup
F – Sarah Baker
F – Mia Kalich
G – Danielle Cameron
G – Jada Leonard
G – Erica King
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