Hassell named second-team preseason All-SEC

University of Georgia

ATHENS, Ga. --- Former Wilson Central star Jasmine Hassell has been named second team preseason All-SEC, it was announced by the league office Tuesday.

A panel of national and regional media predicted Hassell's Georgia Lady Bulldogs will finish second in the Southeastern Conference during the upcoming basketball season.

The media voting was held in advance of 2012 SEC Basketball Media Day slated for this Thursday in Birmingham. Voters ranked the SEC teams from first through 14th, with "points" awarded in descending order (14 for 1st, 13 for 2nd, etc.). Five-player first and second team All-SEC squads also were selected.

Kentucky was tabbed to win the SEC, receiving 376 points. The Lady Bulldogs garnered 352 points, followed by Vanderbilt (336), Tennessee (316), Texas A&M (284), LSU (251), South Carolina (194), Arkansas (168), Florida (144), Auburn (124), Mississippi State (116), Ole Miss (47), Missouri (39) and Alabama (36).

Hassell, a 6-2 senior forward, was a second-team All-SEC pick of league coaches and the Associated Press a year ago. She was Georgia's leading scorer, averaging 13.0 points per game, and also ranked third in the SEC and No. 10 nationally in field goal percentage at .543. Hassell was the Lady Bulldogs' leading scorer in a team-high 11 games during the 2011-12 season and tied for team-best number of double-digit scoring performances with 23 such outings.

She is one of four returning starters and five additional letterwinners from last season's team that finished 22-9 and ranked No. 20 in the nation. The Lady Bulldogs' 2012-13 roster also features five freshmen. Coach Andy Landers enters his 34th season at Georgia within reach of two significant milestones. He is five wins shy of his 800th victory with the Lady Bulldogs and 23 "Ws" away from his 900th win as a collegiate head coach.

The Lady Bulldogs will open the season on Sunday, Nov. 11, when they host Rutgers at Stegeman Coliseum at 2 p.m. Landers and Rutgers head coach C. Vivian Stringer currently rank No. 3 and No. 1, respectively, in career wins among major college women's basketball head coaches.