The Quakers surpassed their previous game's point total by halftime last night against Lafayette, but they were hardly in the mood to celebrate.
In their first contest since the 26-point showing at Villanova on Saturday, the Quakers fell to the Leopards 71-56 at the Palestra, dropping to 3-5 as the team begins its two-week hiatus for finals.
"This team came in driving an Indy racecar," Penn coach Pat Knapp said of his opponent. "We showed up with a bicycle."
"One of those nights," said guard Kim Franklin. "We just weren't playing very smart."
A perfect storm of rebounding difficulties, turnovers and foul trouble doomed the Red and Blue in this one.
After seizing a brief 26-25 lead on a Carrie Biemer lay-in with four minutes remaining in the first half, the Quakers quickly disintegrated. They allowed the Leopards (6-3) key second-chance opportunities and points-off turnovers as part of a 10-0 run just before the break.
On the game, Penn was outmuscled 14-8 on the offensive glass and committed 19 turnovers to the Leopards' 10.
"I thought offensively we were struggling a little bit. A lot of our shots weren't falling," said Lafayette coach Tammy Smith. "That was a big stretch for us in those last few minutes."
"I think that kind of dug us into a little bit of a hole," said Biemer, who scored 16 of her 20 points in the opening half. "We didn't respond as well as should have coming out of the half."
Over-aggressiveness on the defensive end also took its toll on the Quakers. Not only did Penn put Lafayette in the shooting bonus a mere six minutes into the second half, but Biemer and Franklin - the squad's two leading scorers on the season - were each forced to sit for extended periods as a result of their habitual hacking.
For the Leopards, junior Emily Garner led the way with 20 points, a far cry from her season average of eight per game. Senior Vanessa Van De Venter pitched in 19 of her own, right in line with her average.
In addition to raising questions about the Quakers' execution in all facets of the game, the frustrating loss leaves Knapp wondering how to best motivate his team going forward.
"You either use the whip, or you use calm, and calm didn't work," he said. "I didn't refer to Villanova, I didn't talk about Villanova, I threw out the tape on Villanova . All that type stuff didn't work.
"Talk is cheap, and we have a lot of work to do at both ends of the court ... A week ago we were making progress. Our players have a lot to answer for psychologically, deep down inside."
The defeat does not bode well for Penn's Ivy prospects. Though the Leopards did win their contest at Princeton earlier this season, they have already lost at Cornell and Columbia as part of their non-conference slate.
