2012-13 will be the seventh season for Jessica Smith as the 15th head coach in New Haven women's basketball history. Through her tenure, Smith has collected two regular-season conference titles, a pair of trips to the conference championship game and an appearance in the 2007 NCAA Northeast Regional. With 82 wins at New Haven, she enters the campaign tied for the career wins mark at the University.
Smith mentored Bria Moore, the Northeast-10 Rookie of the Year, in 2011-12. Moore represents one of 11 student-athletes returning this winter as Smith eyes her fifth trip to the postseason with the Chargers.
Including Moore, Smith has coached conference Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year in addition to seven All-Conference and three All-Rookie Team selections through her first six seasons. Most notably, Ashley Hilton was the 2007 ECC Player of the Year, Second Team All-Northeast Region and an All-America honoree.
Smith's tenure has recently been highlighted by leading the Chargers' transition most prestegious Division II women’s basketball conference in the nation, the Northeast-10 Conference. The 2008-09 season featured a season-opening 69-68 victory over nationally ranked No. 10 Holy Family. The Chargers also posted their first NE-10 win on November 22 in a 56-55 win at Le Moyne College. The Chargers advanced to their first NE-10 Championship tournament as the 11th seed, and pulled off an 80-74 upset of sixth seed Assumption in the opening round.
Coach Smith’s second season with the Chargers was highlighted by a nearly perfect, 19-1 conference record. The team’s only conference loss of the regular season came in a 79-69 loss at Queens College on February 6. Smith help guide the Chargers to eight consecutive wins to close out the end of the regular season and into the first two rounds of the conference championship tournament. UNH was one of the region’s top teams all season long, winning 13 of their final 16 games heading into the ECC Tournament. The Chargers scored 70 or more points in 12 of those games and topped 80 points four times throughout the season, including two games over 100.
Coach Smith found success quickly in her first season, guiding the Chargers to their second consecutive East Coast Conference championship and the team’s second NCAA Northeast Regional berth in a row.
The academic success during Smith’s tenure has also been outstanding for the Chargers. They currently boast a 3.11 overall team grade point average and had seven earn Northeast-10 Conference Commissioner’s Honor Roll honors during the 2011-12 academic year.
Smith came to UNH from Miami University of Ohio, where she served as assistant coach and recruiting coordinator for the RedHawks for five seasons. In 2004, Miami won the Mid-American Conference (MAC) regular-season title and advanced to the second round of the WNIT. In 2003, the RedHawks won the Mid-American Conference’s East Division.
Prior to her time at Miami of Ohio, Smith spent three successful seasons as head girls basketball coach at Bishop Hartley High School in Columbus, Ohio. At Bishop Hartley, her teams posted an impressive 66-12 record and captured the Ohio state championship in 2000. The team also advanced to the state Final Four in 2001. Following Bishop Hartley’s state title in 2000, Smith was named Ohio Coach of the Year by the Ohio Coaches Association, the Associated Press and the Columbus Dispatch.
A 1995 graduate of the University of Rhode Island, Smith served as a student assistant coach with the Rams from 1992-95, and was hired as a full-time assistant for the 1995-96 season. That season, URI made its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance while winning a share of the Atlantic 10 Conference Championship.
Following the 1995-96 season, she moved on to Fordham University, where she spent the next two seasons as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator.
Coach Smith, a native of Vermont, holds a Master’s degree in Educational Administration from The Ohio State University. She also earned a Bachelor’s of Science in Secondary Education and a Bachelor’s of Art is Biology both from the University of Rhode Island.
