Past OC star Fussell leads Texas quartet on All-Big 12

Former Obion County Central standout Chassidy Fussell was one of four University of Texas players to earn a spot on the 2011-12 Phillips 66 All-Big 12 women’s basketball teams, the league office announced Monday.
Fussell, a sophomore guard, claimed a spot on the 10-person All-Big 12 First Team, and senior post Ashley Gayle earned recognition on the Big 12 All-Defensive Team.
Senior guards Yvonne Anderson and Ashleigh Fontenette picked up first and third All-Big 12 Honorable Mention accolades, respectively.
Fussell is the sixth Texas player and first since 2007 to earn a spot on the All-Big 12 First Team.
She joins Edwina Brown (1999, 2000), Stacy Stephens (2003, 2004), Heather Schreiber (2003), Jamie Carey (2004, 2005) and Tiffany Jackson (2005, 2006, 2007).
Fussell was the second-leading scorer in the Big 12 Conference this season with 17.1 ppg.
She has recorded 30-plus points twice this year, topped the 20-point mark 12 times and reached double-figure scoring in 26 of Texas’ 30 games.
Gayle ranked second in the league with 2.9 blocks per game and is the ninth-ranked shot blocker among all NCAA Division I student-athletes this season.
She leads the Longhorns with 6.3 rebounds per game and has pulled down double-digit rebounding totals in five games. With her 290th career block earlier this season against Alcorn State, Gayle moved in front of Ellen Bayer and now stands as the Longhorns’ all-time leader in blocked shots.
Anderson has started all 28 games she has appeared in and scored in double digits 19 times.
She recorded a career-high 25 points in Texas’ 79-64 regular-season finale win over Texas A&M when she connected on 9-of-17 shots from the field and 6-of-8 while also passing out nine assists.
Anderson is currently second on the team in scoring at 11.9 points per game and leads the team with her 163 assists.
Fontenette’s conference honor is her third in as many years.
She leads Texas with two double-doubles and ranks third on the team in scoring with 11.5 ppg in conference contests.
The official All-Big 12 awards are selected by the league’s head coaches, who are not allowed to vote for their own players.
Texas starts its postseason run against Texas Tech today in the first round of the 2012 Phillips 66 Big 12 Women’s Basketball Championship.
The Longhorns tip off at 5 p.m. at Kansas City’s Municpal Auditorium.

Published in The Messenger 3.7.12