Born May 13, 1991 in Dousman, Wisconsin, Brianna Decker began her hockey career like so many young girls – playing on both boys’ teams and girls' teams. In 2004-05, she helped the Madison Capitols U14 team win a Wisconsin state championship. Brianna later went on to play four years at the prestigious Shattuck-St. Mary's School in Faribault, Minnesota. The team won the national U.S. title in 2004-05, 2005-06 and 2008-09 and Decker’s output was immense. She recorded 56 goals, 66 assists and 122 points in 52 games in 2006-07, scored 79 goals and added 45 assists for 124 points in 55 games in 2007-08 and collected 80 goals with 46 assists and 126 points in her senior high school season, where she served as team captain.

While attending the University of Wisconsin, she played with the Badgers from 2009-10 to 2012-13. In her first season, Brianna was the University of Wisconsin’s Rookie of the Year and was additionally named to the All-WCHA Rookie Team. During the 2010-11 season, her 12 game-winning goals was a program record, and she holds the University of Wisconsin’s longest scoring streak at 32 games, running from February 11, 2011 to January 6, 2012, collecting 33 goals and 44 assists during the streak. Decker was the WCHA Final Face-off Most Valuable Player in 2010-11, she was named to the All-WCHA Academic Team and from 2010-11 to 2012-13, she was selected for the All-WCHA First Team. In addition, Decker was the WCHA Player of the Year in 2011-12.

Brianna Decker ranks first in University of Wisconsin career plus/minus with a +175. She is tied for first in University of Wisconsin career short-handed goals with 8. She is ranked 2nd in University of Wisconsin women’s ice hockey history with 115 goals, in game-winning goals with 25, in points with 244 and in shots with 834. Her 75 career WCHA conference goals and 91 career WCHA assists are University of Wisconsin bests. Brianna was named Alternate Captain of her university team in 2011-12 and was appointed Captain in 2012-13. She is a three-time AHCA Division I All-American, on the First Team in 2011-12 and on the Second Team in 2010-11 and 2012-13.

While competing for her country, Decker was a member of the Gold medal-winning U.S. National Team at the IIHF Under-18 Women’s World Championships in 2008 and 2009. She was a member of the Gold medal-winning U.S. National Team in 2011, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2019 and the Silver medal-winning teams of 2012 and 2021 at the IIHF Women’s World Championship. Her plus/minus of +13 was best of all participants at the 2012 World Championship. She was the assist and point leader at the 2017 IIHF World Championship, collecting 9 assists and 12 points on the way to being named Most Valuable Player, earned the Directorate Award as the tournament’s Best Forward and was named to the All-Star Team. Decker is ranked third in all-time assists by a U.S. player with 40 and fourth in U.S. for career points with 68 at the IIHF Women’s World Championships.

USA's Brianna Decker skates during semifinal action against Russia at 2011 IIHF World Women's Championship. (Andre Ringuette/HHOF-IIHF)

Brianna Decker celebrates with the Championship trophy after a thrilling 7-5 victory over Canada in the gold medal game at the 2015 IIHF Women’s World Championship. (Andre Ringuette /HHOF-IIHF)

Brianna played in three Olympic tournaments for the United States, winning a Gold medal in 2018 and Silvers in 2014 and 2022. Her on-ice exploits earned her the USA Hockey Bob Allen Women’s Player of the Year Award in 2014-15 and 2016-17.

From successes in college, Decker then joined the Boston Blades of the CWHL. She was named the CWHL Rookie of the Year in 2014-15 and the team won the Clarkson Cup championship with Brianna leading the Blades in playoff scoring with 5 goals and 3 assists in three games. She’d win a second Clarkson Cup championship in 2018-19 with the Calgary Inferno. In between, Brianna played in the NWHL with the Boston Pride in 2015-16 and 2016-17, winning the Isobel Cup in 2015-16. That season, Decker won the Isobel Cup Playoffs Most Valuable Player Award and the next season, she led the NWHL in goals (14) and points (31) and was named the league’s Most Valuable Player. Decker played in the NWHL All-Star Game in both seasons.

Following her playing career, Brianna Decker turned to coaching. She was the Assistant Coach for the U.S. U-18 Women's National Team in 2019, 2020, 2023 and 2024 and since 2022, she has been the Associate Head Coach at Shattuck-St. Mary's Girls Prep School.

To encourage the growth of Girls’ Hockey, she launched the Brianna Decker Endowment for Girls Hockey Fund within the USA Hockey Foundation in 2019 to provide grants to 8U and 10U hockey programs across the United States.

In 2024, Brianna Decker was inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame, and in 2025, she became an Honoured Member of the Hockey Hall of Fame.