Hamline assistant women's basketball coach Mandy Pearson has been named head women's basketball coach at St. Mary's (Minn.), the school announced on Monday.

Pearson assisted for two season at Hamline under coach Melissa Young-Kruse. The Pipers earned their first MIAC playoff appearance in 2005-06 and finished with an above .500 record for just the third time in school history in 2006-07 (13-12).

Pearson will take over the Cardinals, who finished 7-18 overall, 5-17 a season ago. She replaces Shawn Stimmel, who left after one season to take the head job at Mount Mercy.

As a player, Pearson received MIAC Player of the Year honors after the 2003-04 and 2004-05 seasons at Concordia-Moorhead, becoming the first player in program history to win the award in back-to-back years. She was named a D3hoops.com second team All-American after her senior year and was D3hoops.com second team All-Region as a junior.

As a senior, the point guard was third in the league in scoring with a 17.5 points per game average. She led the league in assists (7.40 per game) and steals (3.10 per game). She was second in the nation in assists per game.

The Watkins, Minn. native finished her career as a three-time All-MIAC first team selection. She was honorable mention after her first-year season. Pearson led the MIAC in assists in each of her four seasons. Her 1,346 career points and 640 career assists made Pearson the first basketball player in Concordia-Moorhead history to reach 1,000 points and 500 assists for a career.