This was not what Pat Knapp envisioned.
Fresh off a disappointing season and the departure of three forwards, the women's basketball coach opted for a four-guard starting lineup.
But in Friday's season opener against Lehigh, two of those four combined for zero points. Senior Kelly Scott notched 10 points, but that was hardly enough in the 83-52 loss.
"It was a poor defensive effort," Knapp said in a hand-written statement read by an athletic department spokeswoman. (He would not comment otherwise.)
"We were out of sync . and not sure why."
Reduced vivacity helped doom the Quakers (0-1) to their drubbing in Bethlehem, Pa.
"Our intensity level needs to rise tremendously," senior forward Carrie Biemer said. "We should be a lot more excited to play."
Heading into a hostile arena against a team that prides itself on keeping the other team suffocated, the Quakers couldn't afford to put forth a poor effort.
A lot of the 31-point margin - which sat at 20 at halftime - could be attributed to Penn's dispirited play. But not all of it.
After all, it's always a reassuring feeling to hit the hardwood with a defense that ranked fifth in the nation a season ago.
Unfortunately for the Red and Blue, it belonged to the other team.
Lehigh forced 24 turnovers and held Penn to some extremely poor shooting - 36.2 percent from the field, 28.6 percent from three-point land.
Only two Quakers scored in double figures: Scott and Biemer, who had 15.
The Red and Blue tallied just six offensive rebounds, which are often a big aid in sustaining possessions. Lehigh had 12.
"We let them dictate what we did," Biemer said.
Mixing poor offense with a tough opposing defense is a recipe for failure. The equation looked something like this: Quakers offense + Mountain Hawks defense = 52 points.
But with 83 points, clearly Lehigh had some offense to go along with its smothering defense.
Three Mountain Hawks scored in double figures, including a 21-point effort from junior guard Alex Ross, 11 points above her career average.
Lehigh's five starters outscored the entire Penn team as the Mountain Hawks shot 56.6 percent from the floor.
But the Quakers insist they've got a solution for their 83 problems.
"We scored in the 50s, and they scored in the 80s," Scott said. "I think it's mainly our issue on defense."
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