Cara Pearson joined the Western Michigan staff as an assistant coach in June 2012. Previously she had spent the last five seasons at Buffalo, holding the title as associate head coach for four.
While at UB, Pearson worked closely with the post players and assisted on the administrative end of the program, including scheduling.
In 2011-12, Pearson focused more on the Bulls' guard play and coached Brittany Hedderson to one of the best seasons in school history. Hedderson was a first-team All-MAC selection, while also setting a school record for points in a game and finishing second in school history for points in a season.
In 2010-11, Pearson coached Kourtney Brown, who became UB's all-time leading scorer, rebounder and shot blocker. Brown was named the MAC Player of the Year and became just the second player in school history to garner All-American honors.
In 2009-10, Brown picked up her first All-MAC First Team honor as well as the MAC's Defensive Player of the Year.
In 2008-09, she helped coach Brown to school records in points scored and field goals in a season. Brown earned All-MAC honors both athletically and academically. Finishing second in scoring for the Bulls in 2008-09 was another post player, Jessica Fortman.
During Pearson's first season at UB, she helped coach Heather Turner to an All-MAC Honorable Mention selection. Turner finished as the only player in school history to record more than 1,300 career points and 900 career rebounds. Pearson also served as interim head coach for two games during the season.
Prior to joining the Bulls, Pearson spent three years in the same capacity at North Dakota State. With the Bison, Pearson was responsible for all on-campus official and unofficial visits and organized and maintained all compliance records with respect to NCAA rules and regulations. Pearson assisted in scouting opponents and producing reports to aid in game preparation. She also helped improve the interior game by introducing a philosophy of power post play, which produced a second-team All-Conference player and two players who finished in the top five in the conference in blocks and rebounds.
Prior to North Dakota State, Pearson spent two seasons as an assistant coach at Loyola-Chicago and one season as an assistant coach at Akron. She began her collegiate coaching career for Linda Hill-MacDonald at Minnesota in 1996 before taking a break to play professionally, including a stint with the WNBA's Cleveland Rockers in 1999. Pearson also played professionally in Switzerland, Finland, Luxembourg and Spain.
Pearson, who graduated from Minnesota in 1995 with a degree in Psychology, is 13th on the all-time scoring list and captained the first Minnesota women's basketball team to receive a Top 25 ranking. She was voted the team's most valuable player during her senior season and was an All-Big Ten honorable mention selection in 1992 and 1994. Pearson helped lead Minnesota to its first NCAA Tournament appearance and a trip to the second round. Following the season, she joined the Big Ten All Star team where the squad finished 8-0 on its tour.
