The Quakers dropped only their second League game of the season
despite a career-high 17 points from Joey Rhoads in the first half.
Feb. 28, 2004
NEW YORK CITY - The Penn women's basketball team dropped a road game to
Columbia, 74-69, at Levien Gym in the Big Apple. The loss drops Penn to
9-2 in the Ivy League with three games remaining on the schedule. Joey
Rhoads scored a career-high 17 points, all in the first half and Jewel
Clark became Penn women's basketball's second-leading scorer with 1,658.
Penn opened the game on a bit of a dry spell, turning the ball over on
four of its first five possessions and not scoring until the 15:57 mark
on a Jewel Clark lay up off her own miss.
Columbia opened the game on a 5-0 run with Erin Jaschik hitting a
turn-around jumper on the lane and Lisa Copeland nailing a three at 17:13.
The Quakers answered with a pair of Clark field goals but Sue Altman, who
led the Lions with 13 first-half points, hit another trey to give Columbia
an 8-4 lead with 14:52 remaining.
Joey Rhoads entered the game with just under 11 minutes to go in the first
half and proceeded to hit the first five field goals she attempted, which
included a pair of treys. Her second three-point field goal gave the
Quakers their first lead at 18-16 at the 9:19 mark but Rhoads was not
finished. In all, the freshman scored Penn's next 17 points to finish with
a career-high point total, in the first half. She was 7-for-9 from the
field and 3-for-5 from beyond the arc.
After Penn and Columbia exchanged field goals over the next three
possessions, Rhoads put the Quakers on top with a three-ball at the 4:50
mark. Cat Makarewich scored the next two Penn field goals, both
three-pointers to give the Red and Blue the game's largest lead, 33-26,
with 1:23 left on the clock. Columbia managed only one field goal in the
final four minutes, 50 seconds of the first half and Penn into the locker
room with a 33-28 lead.
The Quakers extended its halftime lead to 51-41 on a pair of Jennifer
Fleischer free throws at the 13:22 mark but Cornell went on a 7-0 run with
five points from Altman, who finished as the game's leading scorer with 32
points, and took its first lead, 58-57, since 16-15 on an Adia Revell free
throw at the 8:21 mark.
The Lions pushed out to a 62-57 lead on a Revell field goal at 7:01 but
Penn tied the score on a Karen Habrukowich three pointer and a pair of foul
shots from Clark. Habrukowich was the third of three Quakers to finish in
double figures, scoring 13 points. Cornell took the lead for good at 68-64
on a Lisa Copeland field goal and two Nicole Lesko free throws.
Clark pulled Penn to within a bucket, 69-67, after converting a three-point
play but the key to the Quakers' loss was the fact they went the final 5:01
with only one field goal.
Clark finished the game with 17 points, joining Rhoads as high scorers for
Penn. Clark, now with 1,658 career points, passed Kirsten Brendel (1987-91)
for second on the all-time list.
Due to a Dartmouth loss to Yale, the Quakers still hold a one-game lead at
the top of the Ancient Eight standings. Penn faces Princeton on the road on
Tuesday, Mar. 2 at 7 p.m.
Written by Mat Kanan, associate director of athletic communications
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