Jessica Smith

Head Coach
Third Season
Rhode Island, 1995
Career Record: 46-15, One NCAA Appearance

Jessica Smith was hired as the 15th head coach in University of New Haven women’s basketball history in May, 2006, and 2008-09 will be her third season as the program's head coach.

Coach Smith found success quickly in her first season as head coach, guiding the Chargers to their second consecutive East Coast Conference championship and the team's second NCAA Northeast Regional berth in a row. UNH has now made appearances in the Division II tournament in three of the last five seasons, also earning invitations in 2005-06 and 2002-03.

The 2006-07 Charger women's basketball team featured an up-tempo, in-your-face style that allowed them to rank fourth in the nation with an 80.5 points per game scoring average. UNH was ranked among the national Division II leaders in a number of categories, including margin of victory (+12.5, 21st in the nation) and steals per game (13.8, 6th in the nation). UNH was also 19th in the nation with an .806 winning percentage after posting a 25-6 overall record and a 17-3 mark in ECC play.

UNH was one of the region's top teams all season long, winning 19 of their final 21 games heading into the NCAA Tournament. The Chargers scored 80 or more points in 11 of those games and topped 90 points nine times overall, including two games over 100. The only thing standing in the Chargers' way in the NCAA Tournament was the eventual D-II national champion.

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.

At the time of Smith’s hiring, Director of Athletics Deborah Chin commented that “Jessica comes to the University of New Haven with a great deal of Division I experience from Miami University, Fordham and Rhode Island. She has been a success throughout her career and is ready to become a college head coach. She is a great fit for UNH, as she is committed to continue the tradition of success in our women’s basketball program both on and off the court.”

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.

“I am excited and honored to become head coach at the University of New Haven,” said Smith at the time of her hiring. “I look forward to helping continue the program’s tradition of excellence both on and off the court and helping our student-athletes achieve great things at every level during their time on our campus.”

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 before heading to Ohio and the head coaching position at Bishop Hartley for the 1998-99 season.

Coach Smith, a native of Vermont, holds a Master’s degree in Educational Administration from The Ohio State University. At the time of her hiring, Smith replaced Daynia La-Force Mann, who left New Haven to become the head coach at Northeastern University.