BETHLEHEM, Pa. -- While scoring 16 of the of the Quakers' 34 first-half points and keeping the women's basketball team alive in a close match against Lehigh, senior captain Karen Habrukowich became the 16th Penn women's player to tally 1,000 career points.
After a relatively slow start, the Red and Blue eventually pulled past Lehigh last night, winning 68-53 at Stabler Arena.
Going into the game, the Mountain Hawks (11-5, 3-0 Patriot) were in the midst of their most successful start since 1985-1986. TheQuakers (7-6) were the fifth Ivy League opponent this season for Lehigh. The Mountain Hawks defeated Princeton, Yale and Columbia earlier this season while losing to Brown, 69-61.
"I had to pay attention to those games," Penn Coach Patrick Knapp said about the earlier Ivy League matchups for the Mountain Hawks.
During the first half, Penn and Lehigh battled neck-and-neck, with the lead changing seven times.
Lehigh jumped out to a 27-21 lead midway through the half and Penn coach Patrick Knapp was not happy.
"Be active!" he shouted throughout, trying to keep his players' heads in the game.
The Quakers responded, ripping off a 13-4 run in the final minutes of the half, capped by Habrukowich's three-pointer with 3:12 remaining. The shot gave Penn a 34-31 lead and gave Habrukowich her 1,000th point.
"It's an honor and I can't believe it," Habrukowich said of the milestone.
But there was little to celebrate as the Mountain Hawks answered the Quakers' challenge with a small four-point run of their own to close out the half and take a 35-34 lead into the locker room.
"I felt we were sluggish," Knapp said about the beginning of the game.
In the second half, the Quakers stepped it up. While the score remained relatively close in the opening minutes, Penn scored 12 straight points to turn a slight 47-45 lead into a comfortable 59-45 gap.
Sophomore guard Joey Rhoads finished the game with 15 points, while Habrukowich increased her game total to 21. Sophomore forward Monica Naltner contributed 12 points, and senior co-captain Amanda Kammes added six assists.
"We treated it like an Ivy League game." Habrukowich said. "We came up real big in the end and it is a good lead into our [league] season."
The Quakers had to watch the Mountain Hawks' Jessica DePalo, who led the Patriot League in points per game, with 19.9, and field goal percentage, with 52 entering the game. The Quakers managed to limit DePalo to eight points. However, Lehigh's Sara Ellis emerged as an offensive force and notched 19 points.
The Red and Blue had an impressive 47.4 shooting percentage from three-point range after missing their first three attempts. At the other end of the floor, Lehigh hit 5-of-8 threes in the first half, but only shot 15.4 percent in the second half.
The Penn victory also marked an important milestone in Knapp's career, as the Penn coach notched his 300th victory. While this is his first season with the Quakers, Knapp began coaching at Georgetown in 1986. He led the Hoyas to the Women's NIT in four of the last six seasons.
