Oct. 7—SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — The weeks following Dennis Hutter’s elevation to head coach of the UND women’s basketball team were hectic.
Eight players were in the portal when he was promoted on March 24, including leading scorer Kiera Pemberton and Summit League Freshman of the Year Jocelyn Schiller.
Hutter was faced with restocking the cupboards while still taking care of the seven returning players.
“It started out as a little bit of a whirlwind,” Hutter said Tuesday at Summit League Media Day. “You’ve got to reconstruct a roster, and find kids that want to come to your institution and be a part of your family and your program while also making sure you’re taking care of the seven that are currently staying.”
Now, just under a month away from the 2025-26 season, the dust has settled.
Under new leadership with a new-look roster, the Hawks were placed at No. 7 in the Summit League preseason poll released Tuesday.
“We’re two weeks into practice, still trying to figure out who we are a little bit as we work our way through it, but I do like our team a lot,” Hutter said. “We’ve got a great group of young ladies who I think compete really hard at a high level. High integrity, high character, high effort, high output kind of players, which I think are just really great for what we’re trying to build.”
South Dakota State was picked to repeat atop the league after posting a 16-0 record in Summit League play last year. The Jackrabbits’ star forward, Brooklyn Meyer, was named the preseason Player of the Year.
The Fighting Hawks added nine players in the offseason: five transfers and four true freshmen.
“I’m excited to see what they can do,” Hutter said. “Kind of excited to see them all as we kind of work through this, just to see their transition from where they were at, to our family, or from the high school level up to this level.”
The seven returners include senior center Walker Demers, who earned a spot on the preseason All-Summit League second team. She started in all 25 games last year, racking up 9.5 points and 7.1 rebounds per game.
UND will start the season with a road trip to Minnesota on Nov. 4.
The non-conference schedule highlights include a trip to the U.S. Virgin Islands for the Paradise Jam. The Hawks will play Boise State on Nov. 27 and either Elon or Tulane the following day.
UND will play just one road game in December. The Hawks will travel to Bozeman, Mont., to play Montana State Dec. 6.
“We wanted to build our non-conference schedule around the idea of challenging our team, and trying hard not to travel,” Hutter said. “I thought we traveled a little bit last year. And also, creating opportunities to create some competition. Those were three things that were really big for us.”
Summit League play will begin Jan. 1 with a road game against Denver.
“Summit League is a battle night in and night out,” Hutter said. “There are great coaches in this league and there are great players in this league, so it’s not a league where you can just show up and play, so every night it’s going to be a battle.”
