BEAVER TOWNSHIP — For the Youngstown State women’s basketball team, the 2024-25 season faced its share of challenges under first-year head coach Melissa Jackson.

Multiple players missed valuable time last year due to injuries, but Jackson is cautiously optimistic that her 12-player roster, which includes nine returnees, two newcomers and two players who saw limited action in a combined 12 games, can turn around their 12-19 mark of a season ago.

“We definitely ended the season on a high note. We played some very good basketball, so when March rolls around, that is ultimately what you want as a coach,” Jackson told the Curbstone Coaches during Monday’s meeting at Avion Banquet Center. “We had some success early on and part of that was scheduling but our roster was at full strength. Unfortunately, injuries started happening and it seemed like they just piled up. It was difficult at times with such a young, new team to kind of manage all that.

“As a staff we were so proud of that entire group, not just how we finished the season, but also the culture and foundation that we laid in year No. 1. From a goal standpoint, I really wanted to come in and lay that foundation and felt like we accomplished that. It speaks volumes that we had nine players return to the program this year. They love the program, they love YSU, all are really excited to build on that foundation and hopefully enjoy more success this year.”

Of the 12 women who dot this year’s roster, eight saw playing time a season ago with a sixth-year player (Casey Santoro), redshirt senior (Faith Burch), two juniors (Paulina Hernandez and Bella Samz), four sophomores (Eric King, Hayden Barrier, Dacia Lewandowski [redshirt] and Sophia Gregory) and four freshmen (Danielle Cameron [redshirt], Ashlynn Van Tassell [redshirt], Sarah Baker [redshirt] and Brooke Adkins) set to improve upon their 7-13 Horizon League finish.

“In the off-season, it’s obviously the transfer portal, recruiting and how you attack those two areas,” Jackson said. “We knew, out of the portal, that we needed to bring in some experience because while we had a lot coming back, we are still young with a solid group of freshmen and sophomores.

“I needed to bring in an experienced point guard in Casey Santoro. She has had great college experiences at both Kent State University and Florida Gulf Coast and I think she fits in really well with our young team. Paulina Hernandez is a junior post player from Cleveland State, really fits what we do both offensively and defensively and she will just continue to add to our post group. Our lone freshman is Brooke Adkins and she is very mature, a little older than her actual year so she will be a good fit in our system over time.

“We put a huge emphasis on the weight room this offseason with such a young group. They needed to get into the weight room, get stronger and really transform their bodies. I don’t know if everyone was ready for college basketball last year, but they were thrown into the fire and now, I think physically, they are ready and that is being translated to the court.

“I am going to keep reminding everyone of how young we are, despite that nice group of returnees. We are a bunch of freshmen and sophomores, red-shirt freshman and some are going to be getting their first taste of college basketball while playing heavy minutes. You are still going to see some growing pains early on because of that youth, but they are an incredibly talented underclass group.”

Baker and Cameron return to the Penguins after missing significant time due to injury.

“We are excited about them and excited to have our injured players back, especially Sarah Baker and Danielle Cameron. Sarah came on really strong to start the season but suffered an injury while a lot of people didn’t get to see much of Danielle Cameron. Both would have been huge contributors last year so we are excited to have them back, yet people still have to be very patient with us because of how young we are, especially at the wing position.”

Lost to graduation were the team’s two leading scorers in Jewel Watkins (15.3 points per game) and Malia Magestro (11.1 ppg).

Set for her sophomore season is Sophia Gregory, a West Branch High graduate and the conference’s returning Freshman of the Year.

“Sophia made great strides last year while playing, obviously was thrown into the fire with some of the injuries that we had but really garnered some great experience,” Jackson stated. “I am a big believer that experience is your best teacher so you will see a more confident, much more comfortable Sophia Gregory this year. Yes, she was college-ready physically, but now she is much more ready overall.

“She’s been able to hit the weight room hard and has gotten stronger. She’s more versatile, is playing a different position for us right now, so there is a little bit of a learning curve with how heavy our post-depth is, so I am excited about her. She has a huge ceiling and I don’t even know if we have completely cracked that just yet.”

YSU’s grueling non-conference schedule should prepare Jackson’s Penguins for a challenging conference slate.

“I have always scheduled for what I think my team needs and where we are at,” she said. “I have upped the schedule a little bit with this group because we definitely can be one of the top teams this year in the Horizon League. Again, with some of our growth, people are going to have to be patient with us, especially early on, but I wanted to challenge them.

“It’s a tough, non-conference slate in which we will see different styles of play. Early on, we will be on the road a little more, at North Dakota, Michigan State and it is designed to put us in tough situations to see where we are during non-conference play. Hopefully, that will prepare us for what I think will be another tough conference slate.

“You still have to talk about Green Bay and due to graduations they had to reload. I wouldn’t count out Cleveland State or Fort Wayne. Once again. Robert Morris has come on as they did a really nice job last year, have reloaded and hit the transfer portal. We expect to be in the mix this year but patience early on will be the key.”

Next Monday, Dan Hiner, the Tribune Chronicle and The Vindicator’s sports editor, will serve as guest speaker.