Judie Lomax hardly seems like an intimidating figure. The Columbia sophomore stands at a pedestrian 5-foot-11 - if anything undersized at her forward position - and plays for a historically meek Lions squad that has never posted a winning record in the Ivy League.
But after starring as a freshman at Oregon State, the Washington, D.C., native transferred to Columbia to be closer to home and leads the team in scoring and shooting percentage. Much more surprising is that Lomax, hidden beneath the obscurity of a low-tier program in a low-tier league, leads all of Division I with 13.9 rebounds per game.
Already reeling from an 0-3 Ivy start, the Quakers will have Lomax's Lions (9-9, 2-2 Ivy) and defending co-champion Cornell (7-9, 3-1) on their plates when they travel to New York this weekend.
So how does coach Pat Knapp plan to slow down a dominating force like Lomax?
"We're just going to shiver in our boots and fall over and just die," Knapp joked. "So we're not even going to show up."
But if the Quakers do decide to make their Empire State road trip after all, Lomax will primarily be senior captain Carrie Biemer's responsibility.
"I'm starting on her, so I'm going to take it as a personal goal [to limit her]," Biemer said. "It's really the offensive rebounds I'm worried about."
Offensively, Columbia is a running team that spreads the ball to various scorers. Outside of their star forward's 14 points per game, no Lions average in double figures, but nine players average 4.9 points or more.
Cornell went 11-3 in the Ancient Eight last year but has a new look after losing Ivy League Player of the Year Jeomi Maduka, a two-sport athlete who decided to focus on track and field this year.
"They rely a lot more on just hustle and being scrappy," Biemer said. "They're more balanced."
After a disastrous 39-point output against Dartmouth Saturday, Knapp has focused exclusively on offense in practice this week.
With teams locking down on Penn's two main scoring threats (Biemer and fellow senior Kelly Scott) Knapp has experimented with running a spread set featuring Biemer on the perimeter in order to increase offensive flow and open up space on the inside.
The Quakers should also receive a boost with junior guard Sarah Bucar's return from a foot injury.
"I haven't even sweat like I did [Wednesday in practice] for a month," Bucar said. "I've been getting back into it slowly. I'm sure Coach Knapp won't throw me to the wolves and play me that many minutes."
The Red and Blue's next two opponents don't compare in athleticism or size to Ivy powerhouses Harvard and Dartmouth (which each beat the Quakers last weekend) but they will still provide stiff challenges for the reeling Quakers.
"Columbia and Cornell both don't have quite as strong individual skill players," Biemer said, "so they both rely more on hustle players, which can be just as tough."
