Education
Hutchison attended New Mexico, graduating in 1967, and played basketball for intramural teams during her time at the school.
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Jill Hutchison
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Hutchison also served as the first president of the Women"s Basketball Coaches Association. She was active in, serving as the head coach of the gold-medal winning team representing the United States of America at the World University Games in 1983. Although the University of New Mexico (UNM) had a women"s basketball team as early as 1898, formal intercollegiate play did not start until the 1974-1975 season.
Occasionally, the teams would play at "sports days" at area schools in Arizona and Utah.
After graduating from UNM, Hutchison was admitted to the master"s program at University. Her master"s thesis involved study of female basketball players to determine whether their hearts could play the a full court game.
Her research concluded that they could. She went on to become the head coach of the women"s basketball team in 1970, and she remained in that position for 28 years.
Hutchison was named head coach of the team that went to the World University Games in 1983.
The team had a record of 5–1, losing only to Romania in an early round. After losing to Romania, the United States of America team faced a highly regarded Yugoslavia. The United States of America narrowly prevailed, winning 86–85, with Carol Menken-Schaudt contributing 25 points.
That set up a rematch with Romania for the gold medal.
The Romanians started out strong, and held a 42–36 lead at halftime, but the United States of America team took the lead back and ended up with a 22-point margin 83–61, to clinch the gold medal. The leading scorer on the team with just under 14 points per game was Joyce Walker, who went on to play for the Harlem Globetrotters.
1984 – Athletics Hall of Fame.
