Last week, after a dramatic come-from-behind victory over Yale at the Palestra, Penn coach Kelly Greenberg said that the Ivy League race must be the closest in America.
The Penn women's basketball team witnessed this firsthand last weekend, in falling on Friday night to Harvard, 59-55, and then edging Dartmouth on Saturday, 64-60, in a New England swing.
Friday night's narrow defeat means that the Quakers (9-13, 5-4 Ivy League), three games behind the Crimson (17-5, 8-1) with five to play, will most likely not defend last year's championship.
That's not to say that Penn didn't go down without a fight on Friday at Lavietes Pavilion.
If Tara Twomey's three-point attempt on a broken play had not carumed off the left side of the rim with eight seconds remaining, the Quakers might have been rejoicing rather than lamenting.
The Red and Blue hung tough with Harvard for the entire game. Despite the Crimson's fast start, Penn clawed back to tie the contest at 31 at halftime.
Although the Quakers made some mistakes and failed to secure a few rebounds near the end of the game, Penn felt satisfied at least in that it gave a spirited effort.
"Overall, we played pretty well as a team in both games," said Twomey, Penn's starting point guard. "But Friday night was just a really heartbreaking loss."
Despite a lack of offense on both sides, Harvard's star sophomore, Hana Peljto, did manage to score 21 points.
Her basket with 7:19 remaining in the game put the Crimson ahead of Penn, 48-47, and her team would not trail again.
The Quakers, who were paced by Jewel Clark's 16 points, later tied the game at 51 and then 53 on baskets by Mikaelyn Austin and Karen Habrukowich respectively, but Harvard then recorded six of the game's last eight points.
"In the second half, it was just back and forth and they pulled it out at the end," Twomey said.
Penn then arrived in Hanover, N.H., early on Saturday morning, a dejected and demoralized bunch, but one that had now rededicated itself to a new goal -- going 6-0 to close out the season.
The Quakers responded, handing the Big Green (7-15, 3-6) a loss only one night after Dartmouth had walloped Princeton on their home floor, 76-57.
"On Saturday morning, we were all pretty tired, worn out, and disappointed," Penn senior center Julie Epton said.
"But there are no excuses, and this just proves how far we've come along this year."
Penn freshman center Katie Kilker, last week's Ivy League Rookie of the Week, continued her terrific play against both Harvard and Dartmouth, but was especially dominant in Hanover.
She led the team with 19 points, on a sizzling 7 for 9 from the field and 5 of 5 at the line.
Kilker's one block on Saturday night was also very important.
"She came up with a really huge block of [Dartmouth's Katharine] Hanks late in the game," Epton said. "And not only did she block it, but she took it away."
Penn trailed the Big Green, 33-32, at the half, but Kilker led the Quakers in a second half surge. After the break, Penn shot 50 percent while Dartmouth fired just 33 percent from the field.
And though the dreams of a repeat league championship are now waning, the Red and Blue can still hope. They will need to win all of their games to still be in the running -- but will also need some help from their peers.
"Now we just have to rely on a lot of luck," Twomey said. "It's not really in our hands anymore."
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