The 2025–26 Youngstown State Penguins women's basketball team represented Youngstown State University during the 2025–26 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Penguins, led by second-year head coach Melissa Jackson, played their home games at the Beeghly Center in Youngstown, Ohio as members of the Horizon League. They finished the season 25–10, 15–5 in Horizon League play, to finish in second place. They defeated Wright State and Cleveland State in the Horizon League tournament before falling to first-seeded Green Bay in the championship game. In the WNIT, the Penguins beat Maryland Eastern Shore in the second round before losing to Marshall in the Super 16.

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. They were defeated by Wright State in the first round of the Horizon League tournament.

Offseason Departures Youngstown State departures Name Number Pos. Height Year Hometown Reason for departure Xoe Rosalez 1 G 5' 6" Junior Seminole, TX Transferred to Texas Tech, non-basketball reasons Malia Magestro 2 G 5' 9" Graduate student Hermitage, PA Exhausted eligibility Jewel Watkins 10 G 5' 11" Senior Columbus, OH GraduatedSigned with UCC Glanmire Abby Liber 11 G/F 6' 0" Junior Avon, OH Left program Haley Thierry 23 G 5' 8" Senior Willoughby Hills, OH Graduated

Incoming transfers Youngstown State incoming transfersNameNumberPos.HeightYearHometownPrevious school Paulina Hernandez 7 F 6' 2" Junior Oak Creek, WI Cleveland State Casey Santoro 14 G 5' 4" RS Senior Bellevue, OH Florida Gulf Coast

2025 recruiting class

Preseason On October 9, 2025, the Horizon League released their preseason poll and league teams. Youngstown State was picked to finish third in the conference, while receiving one first-place vote. One player was named to the preseason All-Horizon League First Team.

Preseason rankings + Horizon League Preseason Coaches Poll Place Team Votes 1 117 (8) 2 97 (1) 3 92 (1) 4 87 (1) 5 79 6 70 7 59 8 47 9 29 10 27 11 22

Preseason All-Horizon League Teams Preseason All-Horizon League TeamsTeamPlayerPositionYear First Sophia Gregory Forward Sophomore

Roster

Schedule and results

!colspan=9 style=""| Regular season

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Sources:

References