Sophomore Maggie Burgess took only one shot during last night's 54-53 victory over Lehigh, but that one basket was the most critical of the game.
With 15 seconds remaining and the Quakers trailing 53-52, senior Lauren Pears hit Burgess from the baseline. And Burgess sunk her jumper from off the left block, putting Penn (1-0, 0-0 Ivy) up by one.
"I wasn't thinking about it," Burgess said of the shot. "That's probably why it went in."
Lehigh (1-1, 0-0 Patriot) had a chance to get back on top, though, in the final seconds. Freshman Kristen Dalton took the Mountain Hawks' last shot and, as it rolled off the rim, the win belonged to the Quakers.
The game would end in regulation, unlike last year's contest, which Penn captured in overtime. The Quakers improved their series with Lehigh to 16-12.
Last season, Penn played in six contests that were decided by five points or less, five of which were losses.
"I felt that our players were going to get the stop," Penn coach Pat Knapp said of the last seconds. Penn was playing "aggressive team defense and helping each other well."
However, fouls committed by that Quakers defense put the Mountain Hawks closer in the remaining minutes.
Down by five, a pair of free throws each by Lehigh's Dalton and Sara Ellis, as well as a lay-up by Melissa Rich, gave them the one-point advantage.
Lehigh hit 18 of 20 of its free throws, while the Quakers made only 4 of 9.
Yet Knapp emphasized that his team's strength was on defense.
"The key to the game was probably the pressure put on the ball by Joey [Rhoads], Monica [Naltner], Kelly [Scott] and Lauren," Knapp said. "They should be tired - they gave it a great effort."
Pears had a team-high five steals as well as a career-high six rebounds. Scott and Anca Popovici each contributed five boards on the night, and Rhoads added two steals.
To begin the game, though, Lehigh came out strong, hitting 7-for-7 from the field in the first eight minutes. A late first-half rally by the Quakers would put them up 34-30 at the break.
"As the game went on, the team picked up intensity to go into the final minutes," Pears said.
Pears' unselfishness showed in the opener as she tallied a career-high eight assists, including one that led to the game-winning basket, to go along with six points on the night.
This was the senior's first game since December 2005. After playing eight games that fall, Pears sat out the rest of the season with an anterior cruciate ligament injury.
"She looked great," Knapp said. "She can score a little more for us, which will happen in time."
Leading the scoring last night, Penn's Naltner and Rhoads and Lehigh's Adrienne Blount all tallied with game-high 18 points each.
Blount also had a game-high seven rebounds.
But Blount's force on the floor wouldn't keep Penn from starting its season with a victory.
