She was challenged to take a leadership role on the team – to become a pillar of stability vocally on the court and to inspire with her gameplay. Junior point guard Jeanette Jackson rose to the occasion in a 77-63 loss to Rice on Friday night in the home-opener at the William Nicks Building.

Jackson started the season by scoring a career-high 32 points and surpassing her previous high of 29 points against Arkansas Pine-Bluff in the 2012 seasn. 

The three-year starter at point guard plans to continue to lead her team by example, and she also is excited about the addition of the new players to the team.

"We have a great team. Our chemistry is amazing on and off the court," Jackson said. "We just need to learn how to play team basketball all-together." 

Prairie View A&M coach Dawn Brown was the one who challenged Jackson to take become a better player for the sake of the team, and she made her debut as the interim head coach of the Lady Panthers basketball team on Friday night. 

After three successful seasons as an assistant coach and three-consecutive Southwestern Athletic Conference Championship titles, Brown brings a wealth of knowledge about how to recruit and knows what it will take to continue the legacy of the Prairie View A&M basketball team. 

Despite the home-opening loss, Brown is still pumped up about the possibilities of the season and what her team has the potential to do. 

"I'm really excited. It's a tough challenge ahead, but it's one that I want to face head on," Brown said. "It is going to be a great experience for me and for this team, and we want to continue the success of this program that we have had in the past."

Brown was able to selectively bring in three new recruits to the team: Shaneece Stephens, Precious Roberts and Alexus Parker along with NJCAA All-American signee Cameron Vaughn who each come to Prairie View with the same passion to defend the SWAC Championship title. Roberts scored three points and registered a steal in her first game.

"Our new players are going to enable us to get a spark off of the bench," Brown said. "They come off of the bench giving us some good minutes and playing good defense."

Rice center Jessica Kuster put up 33 points, 15 rebounds and four assists as she led the Owls to victory. The Lady Panthers will try to bounce back from the loss in a 7 p.m. game vs. Texas A&M Wednesday, November 13 at Reed Arena in College Station.