Penn coach Kelly Greenberg told her team that anything less than two victories over the weekend would be a disappointment.
The Quakers did not disappoint.
Senior Jewel Clark and freshman Monica Naltner stuffed Yale forward Julie Mantilla at the buzzer, preserving a 59-57 win over the Elis. Then Clark made her presence felt offensively on the following night, lighting up the Brown Bears for 25 points in an impressive 73-63 victory.
The Quakers (9-6, 3-0 Ivy) now sit atop the Ivy League standings along with Dartmouth. Penn will go on the road next weekend to face the Big Green, as well as two-time defending league champion Harvard.
"We had to win both [this weekend] for us to be happy," Greenberg said. "And we did, we got it done."
The Red and Blue barely escaped with a win on Friday against the Elis. With Brown (9-8, 2-2) already defeating Yale (3-14, 0-4) twice this season, Penn expected to get a greater challenge from the Bears. But exactly the opposite happened.
The Quakers rolled to an early lead behind eight first-half three-pointers, two each for Mikaelyn Austin, Karen Habrukowich, and Joey Rhoads.
The team also did a good job limiting the touches for Yale freshman phenom Erica Davis. This smothering defense caused 17 first-half turnovers, and Penn went into the intermission up, 36-26.
Greenberg, however, painted a much cloudier picture in the locker room. The Quakers had been relying heavily on the three-point shot, failing to establish a consistent offensive rhythm. Clark was held scoreless in the first half and finished with just six points, tying her lowest output of the year.
And Greenberg knew that the Elis wouldn't turn the ball over 17 times in the second half.
"Right when I saw the [17 turnovers] as a stat, I thought, 'Uh oh,'" Greenberg said. "Cause that's not going to happen in two halves. They came out in the second half and played much better."
Penn's shooting didn't get any better in the second half; Austin led all scorers with just 11 points. Instead, the Quakers had to rely on their defense to preserve the halftime lead.
In order to stop the 6-foot-3 Davis and 6-5 Mantilla, Penn used its frontcourt depth more extensively than at any time this season. Greenberg utilized reserves Katie Kilker and Monica Naltner, adding to the Quakers' frontcourt presence.
Naltner, a Cincinnati native, saw the most minutes of her young Quaker career Friday night. She provided much-needed energy off the bench, contributing four points, four rebounds and two assists.
Her most important assist, however, occurred with no time left on the clock.
Habrukowich missed a layup with 22 seconds left that would have given Penn a four-point lead. This gave Yale one last shot to inbound the ball from underneath the Quakers' basket, only down 59-57, with just four seconds remaining.
What happened next is up for debate, especially for the Yale faithful.
Yale's Christina Phillips received the inbounds pass from just inside the key, wheeled around, and put up a shot that was missed and rebounded by Mantilla. Her shot attempt was rejected by Clark and Naltner as time expired.
The Yale coaches and players stormed the court in search of a foul call that was not forthcoming. Instead, the referees raced off the floor, leaving a stunned Elis squad to watch a Penn celebration with Naltner leading the way.
"My girl came down for the rebound, she got the rebound, put it back up and I got a clean swipe on her and blocked the ball," Naltner said. "And that is the game, we won."
The Quakers didn't need any heroics the following night, jumping on Brown early and riding the scoring of Clark and the rebounding of Fleischer to a fairly easy victory.
Coming off the adrenaline of two hard-fought league victories, the Quakers are a confident bunch heading into next weekend's showdowns in New England.
"Oh I definitely look forward to the road trip. I like the bus rides," Clark joked. "But aside from that, I want to play hard."
