She played college ice hockey at Minnesota Duluth, where she was a top-three finalist for the Patty Kazmaier Award in 2022.

Hughes played college ice hockey for the Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs and was an assistant captain her senior year.

She ranked seventh in the WCHA in scoring and second among all rookies, as well as fifth in the NCAA among all freshmen, and was selected to the USCHO All-Rookie Team.

She was part of the All-WCHA Second Team and was ranked fifth in the WCHA in points and second in the conference with five game-winning goals.

[4][5] She represented the United States at the 2017 IIHF World Women's U18 Championship where she won a gold medal.