Coach Jones and the rest of the Waynesburg University Women’s Basketball team are preparing for the 2025-26 season.

“I don’t think I’ll have to do a lot in terms of reminding them [of how they missed the playoffs by one game last season],” Jones said. “They are hungry, and they know that. The team is similar to last season, only losing two seniors from the previous team. This is a great sign for the women’s team as they have played together, and now know what it takes to get to the top.”

Looking back on the previous season, the Yellow Jackets went 14-11, missing out on the playoffs by one game. This was a far improved team and much more impressive from their 2023-2024 season when they finished 6-19. With returning nearly all their players and bringing in even more talent, the team is hoping for a fantastic year. 

Junior guard Mia Henkins had nothing but great things to say for this upcoming year, including how she is excited to play against a conference opponent that knocked them out of the playoff last year. 

“The matchup I am most excited for is probably Bethany, because last year I think we matched up with them well,” Henkins said.

Henkins was a standout player last season, averaging nearly 10 points, 3 rebounds and nearly 2 assists per game. However, she said she wanted to improve one area of her game specifically: defense, as she prides herself on being a good defender. She talked about how you can score all you want, but if you cannot stop the other team from scoring, then you will likely lose the game. Henkins averaged nearly a steal per game in both her freshman and sophomore seasons. 

Coach Jones had a very similar response when asked what he would like to improve as a team. 

“Defensively we need to be more consistent,” Jones said. “We have nights where we are very good defensively, and we have nights where we were not very good defensively.”

Coach Jones was adamant about this, saying many things about consistency on the defensive end and even mentioning how the offensive side of the ball affected their defensive side. He talked about how on days they shoot the ball well, they are usually good on defense, but when shots aren’t falling, their defense is not what it could be. If you shoot a lot of three pointers or long two pointers, that could cause long rebounds, which could lead to points in transition on the other end. 

The team is also looking to push the ball more. They want to play faster instead of running half court sets, according to Henkins. They have had a few open gyms with just the players and have been seeking to play faster and push the ball up the floor more. 

The team’s season begins on Nov. 14 against non-conference opponent William Paterson, in the York (Pa.) tournament.