NEW YORK -- To Penn center Jennifer Fleischer, the bottom line of Friday's game at Columbia was simple.
"It was a matter of really realizing that we had to win this game," the junior said.
Fleischer executed the gameplan as simply as she stated its importance. She led the Quakers (11-8, 4-2 Ivy) to a 63-51 win over the Lions (11-10, 4-4) with a total of 19 rebounds and shot 9-of-13 for a career high of 25 points.
"The big thing was that we had to come out and play our game," Fleischer said. "If we played well things would eventually fall into place."
The Red and Blue stepped onto the court of Levien Gym in Manhattan with hopes of beginning a new winning streak. Harvard (13-7, 5-2) had snapped its last string of victories the weekend before. Dartmouth (11-8, 7-0) followed suit, inflicting a second defeat on Penn the next night.
Friday's matchup at Columbia, though, provided a fresh start for the Quakers, who hit 39.9 percent of their field goals, and shot 28 percent from three-point range.
Penn was prepared to combat Columbia's four-out, one-in style and driving abilities. But without an inside presence of comparable size and ability, the Lions failed to silence Fleischer, who led all scorers.
"We knew we could oversize them at the post," said senior guard Karen Habrukowich, who scored 12 points, good for second on the team.
The Lions and Quakers remained neck and neck throughout the first half. Crucial errors that had cost Penn two Ivy League wins just one week earlier flooded back onto the court. When the buzzer sounded for halftime, Penn trailed 28-27.
With 20 minutes remaining, the Quakers returned to the court with a new attitude, new determination, and, most importantly, new offensive and defensive strategy.
"We picked up our defense in the second half," Habrukowich said. "And we were more effective."
"In the second half, we moved the ball better," Penn head coach Patrick Knapp said. "We changed things up a bit; we ran a different zone offense."
Knapp's changes proved effective, and the Red and Blue broke away from its opponent. With eight minutes left in the game, the Lions trailed 52-40. Penn maintained its hold on Columbia for the duration of the contest, securing the victory with 11 more points.
Though they emerged with the win, the Quakers were not willing to ignore some of the things that went wrong. The Red and Blue has recently failed to rebound and box out, and this weakness was most visible and most destructive during the team's two losses.
"We didn't rebound any better tonight to be quite honest," Knapp said. "It is an area that we have to focus on and work on."
After the win against Columbia and one the following night against Cornell, Penn is just halfway into conference play. The Quakers are eager to correct their faults and demonstrate their presence in the league.
