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KENDRA
HASSELL
RETURNS TO HSU
Hardin-Simmons University Director of
Athletics John Neese '87 named Kendra
Hassell '03 as the 17th head coach of the
women’s basketball program.
Hassell comes to the Cowgirls from the
University of Texas at Tyler, where she was
the head coach for the past three seasons. She
posted a 67-18 record in her three seasons
and led the Patriots to the Elite Eight in 2016,
when they went 30-2 and won the American
Southwest Conference title. She was the ASC
and South Region Coach of the Year in 2016.
“I am excited and blessed to be back at
Hardin-Simmons,” said Hassell. “This
university is special to me and helped form
me into the person that I am today. I look
forward to the opportunity and will work
tirelessly to get our program back to being
one of the top teams in the nation. Cowgirl
basketball has a strong tradition and we are
going to build on that.”
Hassell has been a successful assistant coach
since graduating from Hardin-Simmons in
2003. She has had coaching stops at Texas
Woman’s University, Charleston Southern
University, Carroll University in Wisconsin
and Abilene Christian University.
The former Kendra Anderson is the most
decorated player in the history of the Cowgirl
program. She was a three-time American
Southwest Conference player of the year, was
given the Wade Trophy as the top player in
Division III as a senior, was a two-time first-
team all-American and a two-time academic
All-American and was named the Texas
Woman of the Year by the NCAA in 2003.
She has been inducted into the American
Southwest Conference, Big Country and
Hardin-Simmons Athletic Hall of Fames. She
was named to the
D3hoops.comall-decade
team. She was also a two-time ASC female
athlete of the year.
As a player, she was a part of four teams
that won American Southwest Conference
titles and advanced to at least the Sweet 16
of four straight NCAA Tournaments. She
helped lead the Cowgirls to a No. 1 national
ranking for a good part of her senior season.
The Cowgirls went 104-11 in her four years
at HSU.
Hassell has a bachelor’s degree in all-level
physical education from HSU and she earned
a master’s degree in exercise science from
Oklahoma State University.
Hassell is a native of Colorado City and she
has a daughter, Kaylee.
Hassell enjoying the holidays with her
daughter, Kaylee, and her parents, Woody
and Susan Anderson.
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RANGE RIDER | SPRING-SUMMER 2018