It seemed as if the women's basketball team's moment had finally come.
There was a little over a minute to play against Saint Joseph's, and the Quakers were down by only three, with a chance to shake off their Big 5 demons of seasons past.
Carrie Biemer, the team's captain and go-to scorer, posted up her defender in the paint. Her hook shot was good, and the whistle blew.
Biemer jumped. Coach Pat Knapp, clad in red and blue, jumped. High fives abounded. As fast as Biemer's feet left the ground in celebration, though, they were back down. And so was the rest of her.
As the referee signaled the call - a charge on the senior captain - she fell to the floor in disappointment.
And so, instead of a refreshing change, it was the same old story as St. Joe's prevailed, 66-60.
Another Penn loss, bringing its record to 0-4. Another Big 5 loss - the 16th in a row, to be exact. Another close home loss in a Big 5 matchup that was expected to be a blowout.
"It's not lost on me at all that our kids played hard and bounced back from a tough game on Saturday," Knapp said.
"You can only have that speech one time. We need to seal the deal."
Penn played catch-up from the start. The Hawks (2-2) jumped out to a quick 9-0 lead before a Kelly Scott three got the Quakers on the board three-plus minutes into the half.
The Red and Blue went on a run, scoring eight-straight points to pull within one. It was a see-saw from then on, but Penn never led.
At halftime, the game was tied at 31. Scott had established herself as the shooter to watch, scoring 11 first-half points, nine from treys.
"Kelly Scott is awesome," Knapp simply said, adding that her speedy recovery from a torn anterior cruciate ligament in less than a year is a feat in itself.
St. Joe's went on an eight-point run, and a new star of the game emerged. Junior forward Brittany Ford finished with a career-high 24 points last night, 18 in the second half.
"I thought we made up for a lot of mistakes with some hustle plays and just working our ass off," said Biemer, who scored 14 points but was noticeably off.
"Down the stretch, those same mistakes occurred, but we didn't get lucky and a few calls kind of put us behind."
Last night's game was at least an improvement from Saturday's 78-45 loss to Duquesne, in which Penn allowed 22 offensive rebounds. This time around, the Hawks and Quakers grabbed 33 boards apiece.
"I'm proud of our team for rebounding - our comeback in terms of rebounding," Knapp said.
Overall, it was that kind of night - a we-lost-but attitude after a game that wasn't as bad as expected.
"There were definitely some mental breakdowns," Scott said. "But we're close."
So close that Penn will head into Emmitsburg, Md., on Saturday afternoon to face Mt. Saint Mary's (1-2), even hungrier for its first win of the season.
The Mountaineers lost to Duquesne by only seven, and Knapp said he expects to see a small, quick team that will challenge the Quakers' ball handling.
Surprisingly, after losing four games in a row, the Quakers aren't lacking confidence.
"We want a win," Scott said. "We're going to win on Saturday."
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