Youngstown State University Women's Basketball

Melissa Jackson, one of Northeast Ohio’s most recognizable names in women’s basketball over the past two decades, will be in her second season as Youngstown State's head women's basketball coach in 2025-26. She is the ninth head coach of the Youngstown State University women’s basketball program. Jackson has been in the region for the past 17 years of her coaching career, spending 15 seasons at Akron, one at Cleveland State and one at YSU. Her final five seasons in Akron were as the Zips’ head coach, and she is the only coach in the program’s history to have a winning record. “We’re thrilled to have someone of Coach Jackson’s quality and history in Northeast Ohio lead our program,” said YSU Executive Director of Athletics Ron Strollo while announcing Jackson as the program’s new head coach. “I firmly believe she has the passion, skillset and vision to push our women’s basketball program to new levels. I’m confident our fans will be energized by the brand of basketball that she will bring to Beeghly Center and enjoy getting to know her family and her off the court.” Jackson’s Era at Youngstown State Jackson’s first season at Youngstown State was one of growth with 10 newcomers on the roster and the challenges of implementing a new style, and the Penguins were playing their best basketball down the stretch to set the stage for an exciting future. YSU won its first four games with Jackson at the helm, a first by a Penguins head coach in the program’s Division I era, and finished with 12 victories in the campaign. Injuries were a common and unfortunate theme during the year as three of YSU’s seven freshmen suffered season-ending injuries and seven players total missed at least three games, but YSU battled through adversity to win three of its final four games of the regular season. One of the biggest wins was a 73-70 Senior Day victory over Cleveland State, which won 27 games and advanced to the Fab 4 of the Women’s NIT. Jackson showed that YSU can be a destination from the transfer portal as senior newcomer Jewel Watkins was named to the All-Horizon League Second Team in her only season as a Penguin. She ranked third in the conference with averages of 15.3 points and 2.2 3-pointers per game, and she set new career highs in scoring average, steals, assists, free-throw percentage and 3-point field-goal percentage. She had the fourth-highest scoring total in program history by a guard. Watkins surpassed 1,000 career points during the season, as did returner Malia Magestro, who averaged a career-best 10.9 points per game in her only season in Jackson’s offense. Magestro was named to the Horizon League All-Academic Team for her combined excellence on the court and in the classroom. While Watkins and Magestro provided a veteran scoring punch, Sophia Gregory highlighted YSU’s large and promising freshman class by being named the Horizon League Freshman of the Year. After stepping into a starting role at the beginning of December, she went on to lead all conference freshmen in points, rebounds, blocks and steals per game, and she also paced her classmates in field-goal percentage and double-doubles. Gregory was a three-time Horizon League Freshman of the Week, and she finished her first collegiate season averaging 10.2 points, 7.2 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game. Before Gregory took the conference by storm, fellow freshman Sarah Baker was in line to make a run at the top freshman award. She was named the Horizon League Freshman of the Week three times in the first five weeks before an injury stopped her season in early December. Freshman guard Erica King was one of three players to appear in all 31 games and averaged 5.5 points per contest. Off the court in her first season, Jackson worked on instilling her culture in the locker room while implementing her five core values: family, passion, toughness, commitment, and gratitude. The Penguins maintained their academic prowess by posting a 3.79 GPA in both semesters of the 2024-25 academic year, and they ranked third in the country in team GPA. Before Becoming a Penguin Akron In 2023-24, Jackson was an assistant coach at Cleveland State as the Vikings won the Horizon League regular-season title and finished as the runners-up in the conference tournament. CSU finished 29-6 and earned a berth in the inaugural Women's Basketball Invitation Tournament. The 29 wins marked the second-highest single-season win total in program history. Jackson held three different positions over her 15 seasons at Akron from 2008-23 and was part of the Zips’ best period in program history. She was an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator on Jodi Kest’s staff from 2008-12, and she was elevated to the role of associate head coach alongside Kest from 2012-18. The Zips appeared in five postseason tournaments as Jackson recruited and developed some of the most prolific scorers and passers in program history during her decade as an assistant. Akron made the only NCAA Tournament appearance in school history in 2014, and it had Women’s NIT berths in 2013, 2015 and 2016, as it enjoyed a stretch at the top of the MAC. Jackson’s role in Akron’s success under Kest helped her earn a promotion to Akron’s head coach before the 2018-19 season, and she helped the Zips assemble a 72-69 record and 40 MAC victories in her five seasons. She led the Zips to at least 15 wins in four of her five seasons, with the lone exception being the 2020-21 campaign that was largely affected by COVID-19. She registered 31 wins in her first two seasons, a program record for wins by a head coach during his or her first two seasons, and 34 wins over the last two. She led Akron to an appearance in the Women’s Basketball Invitational in 2019 and a trip to the WNIT in 2022. On the individual level, Jackson coached three Mid-American Conference Players of the Year at Akron - Rachel Tecca (2012-13) and Sina King (2014-15) when she was an assistant and Jordyn Dawson (2021-22) when she was head coach. In total, she coached 23 All-MAC selections and experienced 234 victories while at Akron. Delaware Jackson spent the first four years of her coaching career at Delaware from 2004-08. The Blue Hens won 80 games overall and 51 conference contests in those four seasons, and they finished with at least 25 wins twice. Delaware earned an at-large berth into the NCAA Tournament in 2006-07 behind Tyresa Smith, the 18th overall selection in the 2007 WNBA Draft, and they earned WNIT berths in 2004-05 and 2006-07. Jackson’s Background A native of Hazleton, Pa., Jackson was a women’s basketball student-athlete at Richmond from 2000-04 as the Spiders played twice in the WNIT. She was a 2004 graduate of the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association’s “So You Want To Be A Coach” program. She earned her bachelor’s degree in political science from Richmond in 2004. Jackson and her husband, Drew, have two sons, Luke and Ben, and a daughter, Cameron. Follow Coach Jackson The Basics Hometown: Hazleton, Pa., which is in Northeast Pennsylvania approximately 25 miles southwest of Wilkes-Barre. Family: She and her husband, Drew, have three children: sons Luke and Ben, and a daughter Cameron. Jackson's Five Core Values Family Passion Toughness Commitment Gratitude Career Coaching Timeline 2004-08 Delaware - Assistant Coach 2008-12 Akron - Assistant Coach 2012-18 Akron - Associate Head Coach 2018-23 Akron - Head Coach 2023-24 Cleveland State - Assistant Coach 2024-Present Youngstown State Head Coach

Youngstown State alumna and Youngstown native Courtney Davidson is in her third stint as a member of the women's basketball coaching staff. She rejoined her hometown program in April 2024 as an assistant coach alongside Melissa Jackson. Davidson serves as Youngstown State’s offensive coordinator, working closely with Jackson on spearheading the Penguins’ offense. She is the position coach for YSU’s point guards, and she is the coordinator for the team’s mentoring program and community outreach. Davidson is also the program’s point person in the areas of compliance, NIL and the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. The Penguins played their best basketball down the stretch of the 2024-25 season, winning three of their final four games of the regular season and earning a passionate 73-70 victory over Cleveland State on Senior Day. Youngstown State finished the campaign with 12 victories while working in 10 newcomers and battling through several season-ending injuries at key positions. Davidson was previously YSU's Director of Operations in 2013-14 and an assistant coach in 2017-18 and 2018-19 on John Barnes' staff. She returned to Youngstown after serving as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Hartford, Loyola Maryland and Fordham, and she has 11 years of Division I coaching experience. The Penguins played in postseason tournaments and advanced to the semifinals of the Horizon League Tournament in each of Davidson's two seasons as an assistant coach in 2017-18 and 2018-19. In 2017-18, YSU won nine of its final 11 contests of the regular season to earn a bid to the Women’s Basketball Invitational. The Penguins set a school record for consecutive conference road victories by winning their final six Horizon League road contests of the season. By the end of the season, YSU’s RPI had jumped 113 spots from Jan. 19, which was the second-best improvement in the country over that span. In 2018-19, Youngstown State went 22-10 and earned an at-large berth into the Women’s NIT while setting a program record with 16 home victories. Behind seniors Sarah Cash, Alison Smolinski and Melinda Trimmer, the Penguins went 13-5 in Horizon League games and beat every conference team in the same season for the first time in program history. Youngstown State led the Horizon League in field-goal percentage, free-throw percentage, assists per game, assist-to-turnover ratio and 3-pointers per game. Davidson helped point guard Indiya Benjamin finish her career as one of the top players in program history, holding career records for assists, games played, games started and minutes. In 2017-18, Benjamin led the Horizon League with 176 assists, and her 5.5 assists were almost a full assist more per game than any other player in the conference. Trimmer also showed a huge improvement as a senior point guard in 2018-19 when she set a new school record for best assist-to-turnover ratio with a mark of 2.23 during the season. After the 2018-19 season, Davidson went on to spend two seasons at both Hartford and Loyola Maryland and one season at Fordham, serving as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at each institution. Her recruiting efforts helped Loyola Maryland finish with a 16-15 record in 2023-24, which was its best record in 14 years. The Penguins went 15-16 in 2013-14 as Davidson was the Director of Operations at YSU in Barnes' first season as head coach. Davidson held the same role for a year at the College of Charleston in 2014-15 before taking her first assistant coaching position at Radford. Radford had a historic run during Davidson’s two seasons on the bench, finishing with 42 wins in the two seasons and capturing its first regular-season conference title in 25 years. Davidson was named to the Women's Basketball Coaches Association's inaugural Thirty Under 30 list that recognized the top young coaches in the country in 2016 while at Radford. Davidson was one of the Mahoning Valley's top high school players of her generation. In 2004, she was ranked as the No. 43 player in the country by the All-Star Girls Report. A three-time first-team all-state selection, she finished her career ranking 28th in Ohio history with 2,076 career points. She went on to play at Michigan State during a four-year stretch of national prominence for the Spartans. Michigan State was the national runner-up her freshman year, advanced to the Elite Eight her sophomore year and appeared in the Sweet 16 her junior year. The Spartans then advanced to the finals of the WNIT her senior year in 2008. Davidson was the recipient of the Sixth Man of the Year Award as both a sophomore and junior. Davidson returned to Ursuline High School as an assistant coach from 2008-11, and she was the head coach of the Irish for two seasons before joining the college ranks. Davidson graduated in 2008 from Michigan State with a bachelor's degree in organizational communication. She earned her master's in school counseling from Youngstown State in 2011. Follow Coach Davidson Davidson's Coaching Timeline 2013-14 Youngstown State - Director of Operations 2014-15 College of Charleston - Director of Operations 2015-17 Radford - Assistant Coach 2017-19 Youngstown State - Assistant Coach 2019-21 Hartford - Assistant Coach & Recruiting Coordinator 2021-23 Loyola Maryland - Assistant Coach & Recruiting Coordinator 2023-24 Fordham - Assistant Coach & Recruiting Coordinator 2024-Present Youngstown State - Assistant Coach

Kayla DeCriscio, a coaching veteran who has spent her entire basketball career in the region, joined the Youngstown State women's basketball staff in June 2025. A native of Altoona, Pa., DeCriscio had two coaching stops at both Detroit Mercy and Niagara before coming  to Youngstown. She has been on a Division I bench throughout her career, and she was most recently an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Niagara from the 2020-21 through 2024-25 seasons. “I’m incredibly excited to have Kayla join our coaching staff and welcome her to Youngstown,” Jackson said. “Kayla checked a lot of boxes. She brings good experience, great work ethic and a competitive passion for the game. Kayla very much aligns with our values and vision for YSU women’s basketball. There is no doubt she will have a positive impact on our program and, most importantly, our student-athletes.” In her most recent stint at Niagara, DeCriscio was part of a staff that led the Purple Eagles to unprecedented success. Niagara set a school record for most wins in a season with 21 during the 2023-24 campaign and had consecutive appearances in the Women’s NIT in 2023 and 2024. The 2023 appearance was the program’s first in a postseason tournament, and the Purple Eagles earned their first postseason win as a Division I program in 2024. Niagara advanced to the championship game of the MAAC tournament in 2023-24, and it won a program-best 16 MAAC games during the 2022-23 regular season. That success helped the Purple Eagles earn votes in the College Insider Women’s Mid Major Top 25 Poll for multiple weeks. In addition to her role as Niagara’s recruiting coordinator, DeCriscio specialized in guard development and assisted with out-of-bounds plays and end-of-game execution. She helped recruit and develop multiple All-MAAC selections and the MAAC Rookie of the Year. DeCriscio also served as the program’s liaison for academics and alumni relations, and she was the team’s equipment manager. DeCriscio was a WBCA Thirty Under 30 honoree in 2021 while coaching at Niagara, and she has been a member of the organization’s mentoring program since 2019. Her first role at Niagara was as the program’s director of operations during the 2018-19 season. During that season in Western New York, DeCriscio was responsible for travel logistics, overseeing student managers and practice players, assisting with recruiting visits, and serving as the program’s video coordinator. DeCriscio also had two stops at Detroit Mercy, first as a graduate assistant and director of operations from 2016-18 and then as an assistant coach in the 2019-20 season. During her first two seasons on the Titans’ bench, DeCriscio helped the team advance to the 2017 Horizon League Championship game. Her responsibilities included coordinating travel, assisting with recruiting visits and preparing scouting reports, supervising team managers and helping to run the team's social media pages. DeCriscio also served as the assistant director for the program’s summer camps and the liaison for academics. In 2019-20 at Detroit Mercy, she was charged with the development of the point guards, managing the team’s travel budget and directing the program’s summer camps. DeCriscio played basketball at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown, an NCAA Division II institution in Western Pennsylvania. She finished her career for the Mountain Cats with 170 3-pointers and ranked among the top 20 in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference in career 3-point field goal percentage (39%). DeCriscio graduated from UPJ in 2016 with bachelor’s degrees in secondary education and mathematics, and she earned her master’s degree in curriculum and instruction from Detroit Mercy in 2018. Follow Coach DeCriscio DeCriscio's Coaching Timeline 2016-18 Detroit Mercy - Graduate Assistant / Director of Operations 2018-19 Niagara - Director of Operations 2019-20 Detroit Mercy - Assistant Coach 2020-25 Niagara - Assistant Coach / Recruiting Coordinator 2025-Present Youngstown State - Assistant Coach

Shayna Gore joined the Youngstown State women's basketball family in May 2024 as an assistant coach on Melissa Jackson's initial staff. Gore oversees Youngstown State’s recruiting efforts as its recruiting coordinator, and she is charged with working to enhance the team’s brand as its social media coordinator. Gore also helps shape YSU’s defensive strategy, coordinates the program’s Elite Camp, and serves as the position coach for the posts. The Penguins played their best basketball down the stretch of the 2024-25 season, winning three of their final four games of the regular season and earning a passionate 73-70 victory over Cleveland State on Senior Day. Youngstown State finished the campaign with 12 victories while working in 10 newcomers and battling through several season-ending injuries at key positions. Post-play was a key component of Youngstown State’s success in 2024-25, and Sophia Gregory highlighted YSU’s large and promising freshman class by being named the Horizon League Freshman of the Year. After stepping into a starting role at the beginning of December, she went on to lead all conference freshmen in points, rebounds, blocks and steals per game, and she also paced her classmates in field-goal percentage and double-doubles. Gregory was a three-time Horizon League Freshman of the Week, and she finished her first collegiate season averaging 10.2 points, 7.2 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game. Before Gregory took the conference by storm, fellow freshman forward Sarah Baker was in line to make a run at the top freshman award. She was named the Horizon League Freshman of the Week three times in the first five weeks before an injury stopped her season in early December. Redshirt junior Faith Burch had the best season of her career with averages of 6.8 points and 5.8 rebounds. Gore came to Youngstown with an outstanding list of accomplishments as a Division I student-athlete and three years of coaching experience at the Division I level. Most recently before coming to YSU, Gore spent the 2023-24 season at Western Carolina in her first position as a full-time assistant coach. In her year with the Catamounts, Gore's duties included on and off-campus recruiting, organizing official and unofficial visits, player development, social media, marketing and scouting. In her two seasons as a graduate assistant at Indiana, Gore worked closely with Big Ten Conference Defensive Player of the Year Mackenzie Holmes and first-team All-Big Ten selection and WNBA draft pick Grace Berger. Holmes and Berger earned All-America honors, and the Hoosiers won 52 games in those two seasons. Indiana advanced to the Sweet 16 in 2021-22, and it collected 28 wins while earning the program's first-ever No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament in 2022-23. Gore's coaching career began at the high school level as she was the youngest head coach in West Virginia at St. Albans High School in St. Albans, W. Va. She led the Red Dragons to impressive victories over the No. 5 and No. 9 teams in the state in her rookie head coaching season in 2019-20. Gore had a notable playing career at Marshall from 2015-19 and earned All-Conference USA accolades three times. She finished her collegiate career with 2,081 points, ranking third-best in program history and sixth all-time in C-USA history. Gore made 303 career 3-pointers, the most ever by a Thundering Herd player, and helped Marshall to postseason berths in the Women's NIT and the Women's Basketball Invitational. In high school, Gore was the West Virginia Gatorade State Player of the Year in 2015 and a four-time first-team All-State selection at Logan High School. Gore earned her bachelor's degree in health science from Marshall in 2019, and she earned master’s degree in public affairs at Indiana University in 2023. Follow Coach Gore Gore's College Coaching Timeline 2021-23 Indiana - Graduate Assistant Coach 2023-24 Western Carolina - Assistant Coach 2024-Present Youngstown State - Assistant Coach & Recruiting Coordinator

Logan Miller joined the Youngstown State University women’s basketball coaching staff as a graduate assistant in August 2024. Miller came to Youngstown after spending the last three seasons as the head manager for the women’s basketball program at James Madison University. He gained additional experience as a basketball operations intern at Virginia Military Institute in the summer of 2023. In his three seasons with the Dukes, Miller made nearly 30 road trips to assist with the coordination of meals, practice, video operations, laundry and travel logistics. He also worked alongside the coaching staff to complete day-to-day tasks such as assisting in drills, setting up and executing recruit visits, and coordinating team events. Miller was also responsible for training new managers for JMU, which won the Sun Belt championship and advanced to the NCAA Tournament in 2022-23. In his internship with the men’s basketball program at VMI, Miller assisted the director of operations with daily and weekly objectives. His experiences included assisting with the operations of two camp sessions, filming and editing workouts and creating graphics for social media posts. Miller earned his bachelor of science in sport and recreation management from JMU in May 2024.

Chloe Whitlock joined Youngstown State's women's basketball coaching staff as the Director of Creative Content and Event Specialist in August 2025. She serves as the Penguins' social media coordinator and its liaison for NIL and marketing, and she will assist with fundraising and events. “I am grateful to be at a university and work for an administration that understands the importance of this role and the growing landscape of women’s basketball,” Jackson said. “Chloe will be an integral member of our staff. She brings a unique skill set that will continue to elevate our program during this transformational time in college athletics. I am excited for our student-athletes to continue to build their brands and enhance their overall experiences.” Whitlock joins the Penguins with experience in content creation and event planning in collegiate athletics. Most recently, she served as a freelance graphic designer and photographer for the Lindsey Wilson College athletic department in Columbia, Ky. She previously worked as a graduate assistant for Akron’s women’s basketball team during the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons, the first of which Jackson was the Zips’ head coach. At Akron, Whitlock created social media campaigns, collaborated with the marketing team on projects, and assisted with events and various aspects of the program’s operations. Before her time in Northeast Ohio, Whitlock spent one season each working with Morehead State’s women’s basketball and softball programs. Whitlock graduated with a bachelor’s degree in sport management from Morehead State in 2022, and she earned her master’s degree in sport science and coaching from Akron in 2024. She is a member of the North American Society for Sport Management, the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association and the Association for Women in Sport Media.

Jason Pacanowski joined the Youngstown State women's basketball coaching staff in July 2019. He is currently the program's Director of Operations. In his role, Pacanowski is in charge of many aspects of the program’s day-to-day operations. He oversees the team’s travel while also serving as the equipment coordinator and facility coordinator. Pacanowski is tasked with spearheading the program’s golf outing fundraiser as well as the kids camp and team camp. Additional duties for Pacanowski include serving as a liaison with YSU’s marketing and corporate sponsorship team and overseeing the ball girl program. Before joining the women's staff, Pacanowski previously served as the Director of Operations for the men’s basketball staff for five seasons from 2008-09 through 2012-13. Pacanowski returned to collegiate athletics and Youngstown State after serving as a mathematics teacher and the head varsity boys basketball coach at Beaver Local High School. In the classroom, he instructed and developed the curriculum for Algebra, Algebra II and Calculus classes. As the Beavers’ head coach, he managed and oversaw all aspects of the program, including coaching, skill development, budgeting, fundraising, academics and publicity. Pacanowski served as the Director of Basketball Operations for the YSU men’s basketball team under previous head coach Jerry Slocum during the 2008-09 through 2012-13 seasons. During his first stint as a Penguin, he was responsible for the daily administration and operation of the men’s program. His primary areas of focus were team travel, business operations, video exchange and academic monitoring. Prior to joining YSU’s men’s staff, Pacanowski served as a graduate assistant coach at Southern Illinois from 2006-08. At SIU, he managed the daily operations of the office pertaining to team travel, summer camp payment, team meals and fundraising. He also assisted with recruiting mailings and creating promotional materials, and the led video exchange program. Pacanowski earned his bachelor’s degree in education and human services from SIU-Carbondale in 2006, and he finished his master’s in sports management from the university in 2008. He completed a second master’s degree in integrated mathematics education from Youngstown State in 2013.