NEW YORK -- Shortly after an emotional loss at Columbia Saturday night, the Penn women's basketball team found out that Dartmouth, its chief competition for the Ivy League title, had also fallen.
While many Quakers were heartened by the news, their starting point guard was inconsolable.
"Doesn't mean anything. We're in the exact same position we were before tonight," junior Amanda Kammes said. "Unfortunately, if we won, the Princeton game Tuesday would be [for the championship]. It's OK, we like to make it hard on ourselves."
Sarcasm aside, by beating the Lions, the Red and Blue (15-9, 9-2 Ivy) could have clinched at least a share of the league title Tuesday at Princeton. Instead, following a weekend that saw the team grind out a 69-66 win at Cornell before Saturday's 74-69 loss in New York, Penn must regroup in a hurry.
The Quakers' penchant for starting games off slowly continued on the road trip, and this came back to bite them for the second time in as many weeks.
Penn allowed Columbia to score the game's first five points, a night after watching the Big Red storm to a 9-3 lead in the opening minutes. In both cases, the Quakers were able to put together runs to get back into the game in the first half. But Penn coach Kelly Greenberg suggested that the slow starts have been wearing her team down.
"We always start the game in a hole," Greenberg said. "That is the difference right now.
"We're better than these teams and we can't let that happen. Why are we down 8-0 or 5-0 to start? We've gotta figure that out for the next three games."
Try as they might, the Red and Blue were unable to figure out Columbia guard Sue Altman. Playing in front of an adoring crowd on her senior night, Altman lit up the Quakers for 32 points, including four three-pointers.
While the Quakers ultimately had no answer for Altman's emotional performance, the first half saw Penn freshman guard Joey Rhoads match Altman shot for shot.
Rhoads came off the bench to score 17 points during a 10-minute stretch of the first half. Her 7-for-9 shooting performance, including 3-for-5 from long distance, led the Quakers to a 33-28 lead at the break.
The score belied the fact that the Red and Blue had failed to generate a consistent half-court offense. In the second half, amidst a barrage of Altman points, Penn was unable to break its opponents' momentum.
The Quakers were able to stretch their lead to 51-41 before Altman took over, leading the Lions on a 17-6 run that gave them a 58-57 lead with 8:21 to go.
Down the stretch, Penn doomed itself with two fatal errors. Rather than attack Columbia as a team, individual Quakers tried to counter Altman's heroics, with limited success. The Red and Blue made only one field goal in the final 5:01.
Second, the team repeatedly gave Altman, an 85 percent free-throw shooter last year, chances to seal the victory at the line.
There was no stopping Altman on this night. After the buzzer sounded, she was mobbed by students and her greatest admirers -- a girl's youth basketball team in attendance.
That Penn was able to pull out a win against Cornell in the first game was a tribute to the team's secret weapon -- its bench. The Quakers' reserves outscored Cornell's bench, 28-1, led by eight points from juniors Cat Makarewich and Katie Kilker.
Despite their efforts, the Red and Blue were not able to seal the victory until Cornell senior Karen Force missed a three-pointer at the buzzer.
But the Cornell game was long forgotten in the locker room after the Columbia loss. While the players know that they must put Saturday's loss behind them before Tuesday, many, like Kammes, believe that the Quakers plays their best basketball with their backs against the wall.
For the team's sake, this better be true. Another loss, and the standings won't be so forgiving.
NOTES: With 17 points against Columbia, senior Jewel Clark moved into second place on the Quakers' all-time scoring list with 1,658, passing Kristen Brendel (1987-91). Clark now trails only Diana Caramanico (2,415 points).
