First year assistant coach Kara Amundson brings another accomplished former DePaul Blue Demon to the staff. Amundson's resume includes a wealth of playing experience and academic achievement that will be valuable to the Huskie softball program.

Amundson, a Coon Rapids, Minn. native, comes to NIU from DePaul University where she excelled as a member of the Blue Demon softball team under assistant coach Chouinard. Amundson made a great impression as a player and Chouinard thinks she can translate her skills to the coaching aspect of the game.

"Kara is a great addition to our staff," Chouinard said. "She is hard-working and understands what it takes to play at the highest level of Division-I softball. Kara will be an unbelievable mentor to our players."

While a student-athlete for the Blue Demons, Amundson collected many honors and was part of a very successful program. In 2003, Amundson helped DePaul earn the Conference USA championship as a freshman. Two seasons later, Amundson started 31 games at catcher, led Conference USA in pick-offs and hit her first collegiate home-run. Amundson contributed to another conference championship in 2005 and a Women's College World Series appearance after the Blue Demons beat Northwestern in two straight games in the Super Regionals where Amundson collected two hits in the first game versus the Wildcats.

Amundson registered four multiple RBI games and led the Big East in sacrifice flies in 2006. In 2007, Amundson helped DePaul to a Big East regular season conference championship with an astonishing 20-0 record in conference play and a 5-0 mark in post season play. The Blue Demons defeated third-ranked Oklahoma in two straight games in the Super Regionals to make their second WCWS appearance in four years.

In June 2007, Amundson received her degree sociology from DePaul with a focus on juvenile justice and a minor in psychology. As an undergraduate, Amundson was named to the Conference USA Commissioner's Academic Honor Roll in 2005 and earned Big East Academic All-Star Honors in 2006 and 2007 while garnering Dean's List honors six times.