By james art 
HOUSTON — The South Dakota State women’s basketball team won its season opener over Rice in comeback fashion on Monday night. Down 10 points with less than five minutes to play, the Jackrabbits outscored the Owls 18-6 in the final half to win 65-63.
Haley Timmer’s 3-pointer from the corner with eight seconds on the clock put the Jax ahead. The basket was the final of the contest, ending SDSU’s push for the season-opening victory.
Timmer and Katie Vasechka sparked the run with back-to-back 3-pointers 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 a 62-61 lead. After Rice’s basket at the 21-second mark, Timmer’s 3-pointer won the game for the Jacks off an inbounds pass from Paige Meyer.
Timmer finished with 16 points on 17-of-13 shooting and two assists. She was one of four double digit bunnies. Brooklim 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 one 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 Rice turnovers and scored 13 points off those mistakes. On the other end, SDSU turned the ball over 11 times but limited the Owls to just four points off turnovers.
The Owls were led by 16 points from Dominic Ennis and 12 from Susi Ngoulefak.