HOUSTON – South Dakota State women’s basketball won its season opener over Rice in comeback fashion Monday night. Down 10 points with less than five minutes to play, the Jackrabbits outscored the Owls 18-6 over the final stretch to win 65-63.
Haleigh Timmer nailed 3-pointer from the corner with eight seconds on the clock put the Jacks out in front. The basket was the final of the contest, completing SDSU’s push for the season-opening victory.
Timmer and Katie Vasecka sparked the run with back-to-back triples to make it a four-point game at 53-57. The Owls made it a six-point game twice, then the Jacks scored seven straight to take the lead at 62-61. Following a Rice basket at the 21-second mark, Timmer’s triple won the game for the Jacks off an in-bound pass from Paige Meyer
Timmer finished with 16 points on 17-of-13 shooting to go with a pair of assists. She was one of four Jackrabbits in double figures. Brooklyn Meyer led all players with 17 points and had six rebounds, two steals and two blocks. Paige Meyer added 12 points, five rebounds, five assists and a block. Vasecka, a freshman, also contributed 12 points on 5-for-9 shooting in her Jackrabbit debut.
SDSU shot 44 percent from the field and 31 percent from the 3-point line. The team forced 13 turnovers by Rice and scored 13 points off those errors. On the other end, SDSU turned the ball over 11 times but limited the Owls to only four points off turnovers.
The Owls were led by 16 points from Dominique Ennis and 12 from Sussy Ngulefac.
NOTES
Head Coach Aaron Johnson is 20-5 in season openers as a head coach.
UP NEXT
South Dakota State returns to Brookings to host No. 21 Creighton Friday night at First Bank & Trust Arena. The Jackrabbit women tip at 6 p.m. followed by the Jackrabbit men versus Long Beach State at 8:15 p.m.