Senior Emma Ruhlman dribbling the ball at the team’s first practice of the 2025-26 season
Courtesy | Hillsdale College Athletic Department

The Hillsdale women’s basketball team was picked to finish fifth in the 2025-26 Great Midwest Athletic Conference Preseason Coaches Poll, but Charger players and coaches say they’re poised to make another GMAC title run and earn a second consecutive NCAA tournament berth.

“Our inner circle of our players and staff is so confident that it is not going to be a rebuilding year,” head coach Brianna Brennan said.

Brennan was named the 2024-25 Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan’s Women’s Basketball Coach of the Year in April. She is set to lead alongside assistant coaches Abbey McNeil and Sophia Pierce this season.

The Chargers went 21-10 overall last year, finished as the GMAC runner-up, and made the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2017. The Chargers’ season concluded with a 61-56 loss to Northern Michigan University in the NCAA Division II Midwest Regional.

The Chargers graduated their two leading scorers, Lauren McDonald and Caitlin Splain, as part of a six-person senior class. The team is returning with six upperclassmen, four sophomores, and four freshmen. 

“Our team is going to be a lot deeper this year than we have been in the past,” Brennan said.

The Chargers’ NCAA tournament appearance last year has become the new standard for the program, according to senior guard Emma Ruhlman. 

“We should be able to get back there every year now,” Ruhlman said.

The Chargers are using the preseason ranking as extra inspiration going into the season, according to junior forward Sydney Pnacek.

“It gives us more motivation to prove everyone wrong yet again,” Pnacek said.

In terms of playing style, the Chargers led the conference in rebounds per game last year and have worked hard in the preseason to establish themselves as more of a defensive-minded team, according to Brennan.

“We really pride ourselves on our defense and playing unselfish basketball,” Pnacek said.

The team’s culture and style of play have been enhanced by their three core values: gratitude, love, and respect, according to Brennan.

“This is very much how we want to live our lives off the court, but it’s also a direct representation of how we want to play too,” Brennan said.

The Chargers will open their season at home against the University of Illinois Springfield in the Dawn Tibbetts Potter Arena Nov. 14 at 5 p.m. and then play again at home against Purdue University Northwest Nov. 15 at 7 p.m. 

“Our players do such a good job of representing themselves in our program that we hope people want to come support our games and be a part of our success every step of the way,” Brennan said. “Come out, support, and cheer loudly.”