FINAL: Penn 60, Princeton 47

Well, it’s not an Ivy League title, but at least the Quakers can say they stayed above .500 in the league this year. The game went pretty much as expected; Princeton played tough, but just didn’t have the offensive firepower to keep up with Penn.

The Quakers sealed the deal with late free throw shooting, and Grandieri got a standing ovation from the Penn crowd when Miller took him out with under a minute to go.

2nd Half, 1:31: Penn 54, Princeton 45

Bernardini and Eggleston fought for the same board, and the ball fell to Briggs, who scored inside. Princeton is in foul mode; Bernardini missed the front end of a one-and-one.

2nd Half, 3:42: Penn 54, Princeton 43

Gaines just showed his natural ability to get to the basket with a nice drive and easy layup. Votel is playing much better D on Finley than Schreiber was, though Finley just got to the line and made one of two.

2nd Half, 5:13: Penn 52, Princeton 42

Now that’s more like it for the Quaker offense. First Egee had a nice drive and dish to Eggleston for an easy one, then Bernardini got open off a screen and hit another three, this one from the corner, forcing a Johnson timeout.

2nd Half, 7:13: Penn 47, Princeton 42

Briggs got another layup on a cut to the basket, the Kevin Steuerer hit a three from the corner to cut the Penn lead to two. Bernardini answered with three of his own, off a pass out of a double team from Eggleston.

2nd Half, 9:30: Penn 44, Princeton 37

Schreiber recently re-entered the game and it looks like he is on his way out already after missing a short jumper and getting scored on easily by Finley. Votel has checked back in, presumably for Schreiber. After Finley’s basket, Eggleston got the roll on a putback to keep Penn’s lead at 7.

2nd Half, 11:48: Penn 40, Princeton 35

Jason Briggs had two nice drives and scores, the second coming after Bernardini airballed a three. Egee continued his smooth stroke, though, and hit a three for the Quakers from the left wing. The tides have turned with fouls; Princeton is already in the penalty.

2nd Half, 15:25: Penn 35, Princeton 31

Bernardini started where he left off in the first half: struggling. He turned it over a couple times and was called for a tripping foul after getting tangled up with Savage. He finally got an open jumper though, moments ago, and hit it from the free throw line. For Princeton, Finley scored easily inside, but then Penn did an effective job doubling him a few possessions later.

1st Half Stats:

Leading Scorers: Penn - Grandieri (10), Princeton - Savage (8)

FGs: Penn - 13-29 (44.8%), Princeton - 7-17 (41.2%)

Really? They only took 17 shots? Gotta love the Princeton offense.

Rebounds: Penn - 16 (4 offensive), Princeton - 15 (3 offensive)

Assists/Turnovers: Penn - 4/5, Princeton - 4/8

3-Pt - Penn - 0-3, Princeton - 1-4,

Now that I think about it, the Tigers did do a great job of not giving Penn, and especially Bernardini, open looks from three.

They’re in the midst of a halftime ceremony honoring all of the Princeton Ivy League champions and Players of the Year for the year so far. At least they have something to celebrate in this arena.

Halftime: Penn 29, Princeton 25

Penn piled up the fouls that half, so much so that the Penn crowd let out a sarcastic cheer when a foul was finally called on the Tigers. With some of the Quakers already in foul trouble, it will be interesting to see how Miller shuffles the lineup. He has already made some interesting moves, putting in Brenna Votel, and yes, Joe Gill.

Votel ended the half on a high note for the Quakers, hitting a long jumper when Princeton refused to guard him outside.

1st Half, 3:35: Princeton 22, Penn 21

Penn has looked hapless on offense in the past four minutes. They finally got an easy look at the basket but Bernardini missed a wide open layup, which led to a Koncz three on the other end, giving Princeton its first lead. More bad news for Penn: both Schreiber and Egee have picked up three fouls already.

1st Half, 7:30: Penn 19, Princeton 14

Egee continues to show how improved his jump shot is; he just hit a 15-footer to extend Penn’s lead. Savage hit a mid-range J of his own earlier to keep it relatively close. Uncharacteristic play for Grandieri right before the timeout: with Penn on a two-on-one fastbreak, he tried a behind the back pass to Gaines. It was nearly stolen but Gaines recovered it and was fouled.

1st Half, 9:49: Penn 17, Princeton 10

Penn is starting to emerge as the better team. Kevin Egee just extended Penn’s lead with a nice up and under on Koncz inside. That’s right, he posted up the 6-7 Koncz and scored on him easily.

1st Half, 11:51: Penn 14, Princeton 10

Eggleston just scored on consecutive possessions for Penn. The second came on a forceful slam after a nice pass inside by Schreiber. Jack will be at the line to try to complete the three-point play after the timeout.

Gotta mention this: there is basically no one here and the average age of the people here is probably 75. Who said the rivalry hasn’t lost its luster?

1st Half, 14:46: Penn 8, Princeton 6

Grandieri has been Penn’s best weapon so far, getting two baskets, one after picking up a loose ball (it seems like he is always around the ball). Zach Finley came off the bench and got two baskets inside for the Tigers, but he just picked up on offensive foul,

Starting Lineups: Like Glen Miller Saturday night, Sydney Johnson is giving all of his seniors the start.

Penn:

G Harrison Gaines

G Brian Grandieri

G Tyler Bernardini

F Jack Eggleston

C Andreas Schreiber

Princeton:

G Matt Sargeant

G Kevin Steuerer

G Zach Woolridge

F Kyle Koncz

F Noah Savage

Rob Gross on hand at Jadwin Gym for the Ivy League season finale. It’s going to be an anti-climactic finish tonight no matter what happens, with Cornell having put the wraps on an undefeated season this past weekend, but hopefully these two rivals can give us a good show to close out the year.

Refresh this page all night for live updates of Penn vs. Princeton.

FINAL: Penn 69, Columbia 67

It was clear that Miller wanted Bernardini to have the last shot, but his first attempt came up way short; it may have been tipped. But a Penn player dove for the rebound and it bounced back to Bernardini, who promptly hit a short floater to give Penn the victory.

2nd Half, 13.0: Penn 67, Columbia 67

Scott got to the basket and was fouled by Bernardini, but he only made one of two. Penn now has a chance for the last shot; we’ll see what Miller draws up.

2nd Half, 26.4: Penn 67, Columbia 66

Typical Brian Grandieri play as the seconds wind down. After Niko Scott scored on a nice drive to the hoop, Grandieri grabbed the offensive board from a Bernardini miss and put it back in, thanks to a friendly roll. Columbia now has the ball with the chance to take the lead.

2nd Half, 1:20: Penn 64, Columbia 64

Schreiber continued his strong play down the stretch with a nice move inside to score on Nwachukwu. Baumann hit two free throws to tie it and Miller just called a timeout to set up a play for the Quakers.

2nd Half, 2:36: Penn 62, Columbia 62

Schreiber came up big, hitting four consecutive free throws. The second pair came after a needless over-the-back foul on Nwachukwu that put Penn in the double bonus.

2nd Half, 3:36: Columbia 60, Penn 58

Four consecutive points forced Jones into a timeout. Bernardini hit two FTs then Grandieri got inside and hit one of patented floaters off the backboard. Should be a good one down the stretch.
2nd Half, 5:02: Columbia 60, Penn 54

Gaines made a nice floater but then missed a pretty easy layup on Penn’s next possession. Nwachukwu continues to give Penn headaches inside. First he scored on a nice post move on Eggleston, then he grabbed an offensive board and got the putback.

2nd Half, 7:47: Columbia 56, Penn 50

Not much has changed since the last timeout. Justin Reilly scored after getting an offensive rebound for Penn and Montgomery scored on a nice back door play for Columbia. Columbia has kept Bernardini extremely quiet in this half, which had to be one of its focal points for the game.

2nd Half, 10:24: Columbia 52, Penn 46

It’s entering danger time for the Quakers. Columbia looks poised to take control of this game.

2nd Half, 13:04: Columbia 50, Penn 44

Big sequence for Columbia: first Baumann fought hard for two offensive boards and scored, despite what looked like multiple fouls on him. That play got Jones really pumped up. On the next play, Columbia turned a bad pass from Grandieri into a Baumann fast break dunk, forcing a Miller timeout. More bad news for Penn, Schreiberpicked up his fourth foul moments ago.

2nd Half, 15:43: Columbia 44, Penn 39

Penn is getting hurt by the long ball so far. Baumann, Montgomery and Loscalzo have all hit triples for the Lions. Penn’s one highlight came on a nifty steal from Bernardini, which led to a wide open dunk.

Even the band and cheerleading seniors got honored at halftime..and wait even senior DP reporters! Be right back, I have to get my plaque.

Ok here are the halftime stats:

Leading Scorers: Penn - Egee (12), Columbia - Nwachukwu (15)

FGs: Penn - 10-28 (35.7%), Columbia - 11-27 (40.7%)

Rebounds: Penn - 15 (4 offensive), Columbia - 19 (6 offensive)

Assists/Turnovers: Penn - 6/10, Columbia - 6/11

Bench Points: Penn - 28, Columbia - 5

Halftime: Penn 33, Columbia 32

Really good game so far. Not even close to the excitement of last night, but it’s been pretty intriguing. Nwachukwu was a force inside for the entire half, but Penn did a good job of not letting him dominate the game. Penn ended the half with some momentum thanks to a scrappy play from Bernardini, leading to a Grandieri runaway layup.

1st Half, 48.9: Penn 31, Columbia 31

Conor Turley is getting some serious playing time, not sure why. Perhaps Miller figures they need all the fouls they can get guarding Columbia’s big men. Eggleston has been sitting on the bench for a while after picking up two early fouls.

Turley is making Miller look good, though. He’s been doing a pretty good job with his interior defense.

1st Half, 3:46: Columbia 25, Penn 23

Nwachukwu scored once again and it looked like Columbia was starting to pull away. But another three from Egee brought the Penn deficit to 2. This game is reminiscent of the first meeting between the two, except K.J. Matsui is not raining down three’s like he did in that game. The Quakers are keeping it close as a result, but they just don’t seem to match up well with Columbia.

1st Half, 6:16: Columbia 21, Penn 19

The Lions continue to pound the ball inside. Nwackukwu isn’t killing Penn, but he’s been Columbia’s best offensive option so far. For Penn, Kevin Egee kept the game close with two three-pointers, both from the left wing.

1st Half, 11:58: Columbia 11, Penn 8

Both offenses are still struggling. Penn’s only easy basket came on a runaway layup for Schreiber. Nwachukwu is too strong for Penn’s big men to guard; he scored on Reilly and-one inside. Columbia coach Joe Jones is upset with the way the game is being called though. Both Baumann and Nwchukwu have been called for offensive fouls.

1st Half, 15:52: Columbia 6, Penn 3

Ugly start for both sides, especially Penn. The Quakers missed their first five shots, including four ugly ones from Grandieri. Baumann and Loscalzo hit three’s for Columbia and right after Harrison Gaines and Tyler Bernardini replaced Kach and Gill, Gaines got Penn on the board with a triple.

Ok enough of that, let’s get to the game.

Starting Lineups:

Penn - Another classy move, this one by Miller, giving Kach and Gill the start.

G Joe Gill

G Mike Kach

G Brian Grandieri

F Jack Eggleston

C Andreas Schreiber

Columbia -

G Niko Scott

G Mack Montgomery

G Brett Loscalzo

F John Baumann

C Ben Nwachukwu

Pre-Game Ceremony: Really nice ceremony for Grandieri, Gill, and Mike Kach. Great ovation for everyone, especially Grandieri. Classy move by Columbia as all of the Lions stood and applauded Penn’s Class of ‘08. It’s too bad this place is nearly empty for their last game here.

Sports editors…I mean Rob Gross here at the Palestra for Penn’s final home game of the season. Refresh the page throughout the game for live updates on Senior Night.

It’s hard to believe this will be Brian Grandieri’s last game at the Palestra. Hopefully his teammates can play as well as they did last night and give him one last victory on this floor. Let’s also hope the game is not too close so fellow senior Joe Gill can see some PT - then again he was on the floor in crunch time last year when Glen Miller sent out his best three-point shooting team,
Sidenote, Tim Begley is in the house for Senior Night and it looks like he might be thinking about changing his sport of choice. He spent the last few minutes in conversation with women’s soccer coach Darren Ambrose.

FINAL: Cornell 94, Penn 92

WHAT A FINISH. Penn brought it back to one with 3 seconds left after a Bernardini three. Penn promptly fouled sending Wittman to the line with 2.7 on the clock. He made one of two and Penn was left to hope for a halfcourt heave to get a shot off.

Reilly sent it downcourt and Bernardini grabbed it. He went up for a three and appeared to get fouled but no call was made. Glen Miller ran all the way out to center court and remained there for about a minute protesting the call. It’s hard to make that call down the stretch, but it looked like there was enouch contact.

2nd Half, 9.8: Cornell 92, Penn 89

Thanks to three-pointers from Gaines and Bernardini, this one is not quite over yet. Penn will be missing Grandier for the final stretch though as he just fouled out. Dale is at the line shooting two.

2nd Half, 43.6: Cornell 89, Penn 79

They answered that question quickly as Gaines threw away the inbound pass leading to an easy Cornell basket. Bernardini then missed an off-balance three and Penn was forced to foul.

2nd Half, 1:08: Cornell 85, Penn 79

The press seems to be working. Cornell has turned it over twice already. We’ll see if Penn can capitalize off the latest one.

2nd Half, 1:27: Cornell 85, Penn 79

Tyler just provided an exclamation point with s thunderous slam off a nice feed from Dale. Penn is in full-court press mode now and need some steals to get back into it.

2nd Half, 2:34: Cornell 82, Penn 73

Barring a miracle, Penn’s upset bid is over. Ryan Wittman just provided the dagger with a three to give Cornell its biggest lead of the night.

2nd Half, 3:42: Cornell 75, Penn 71

Grandieri hit a big mid-range J to momentarily thwart Cornell’s momentum. He then committed a loose ball foul and with the Quakers now in the double bonus, Foote will be shooting two when the game resumes.

2nd Half, 4:19: Cornell 75, Penn 69

It’s starting to enter “Uh-Oh” time for the Red and Blue. Dale got inside once again for an easy layup then Bernardini was unable to fight through the screens as Gore hit an open three. Penn needs to respond soon or its upset bid will come up short.

2nd Half, 5:49: Cornell 70, Penn 69

You knew it wasn’t going to be easy for the Quakers to hold onto their lead. Dale just gave the Big Red their first lead in a while with an acrobatic move to the hoop.

2nd Half, 7:32: Penn 69, Cornell 66

Not much scoring in the last couple minutes but plenty of action. The players are really getting at it on the boards and diving for loose balls. Reilly was just called for a travel diving for a ball and Cam Lewis had a nice block after a crazy sequence where about six players were fighting for the rebound.

Both Eggleston and Schreiber re-entered the game and Schreiber prompty picked up his fifth on a charge call.

2nd Half, 10:02: Penn 69, Cornell 64

Cam Lewis just tore the roof off this place with a MONSTER slam. The arena was so loud that nobody even knew the ref had called a foul on the play. The basket gave Penn its biggest lead of 9 but Cornell has kept it close thanks to baskets from Alex Tyler and Foote. This one has been exciting throughout and it doesn’t look like that is going to change as we head down to the last ten minutes.

2nd Half, 13:54: Penn 63, Cornell 58

I just said Schreiber was starting to gain confidence; too bad he picked up his fourth foul right after the last timeout. A few possessions later, Eggleston picked up his fourth diving for a loose ball. Cam Lewis is going to have to step up big time if the Quakers want to hold on to this one. He just entered and got a nice block on Jason Battle. Then Grandieri got a putback layup, leading to a Steve Donahue timeout.

2nd Half, 15:47: Penn 56, Cornell 54

Andreas Schreiber is gaining confidence. He hit a three-point play on a short jumper then took a few steps back and knocked down a mid-range J. Penn looked like it was starting to gain momentum, but Louis Dale made two nice moves into the lane for layups, one going for a three-point play and Wittman hit a three from NBA range.

Halftime Stats:

Leading Scorers: Penn - Eggleston, Bernardini (11), Cornell - Gore (14)

FGs: Penn - 16-29 (55.2%), Cornell - 15-31 (48.4%)

Rebounds: Penn - 14 (4 offensive), Cornell - 15 (6 offensive)

Assists/Turnovers: Penn - 8/6, Cornell - 9/6

3-Pts: Penn - 4-9, Cornell 6-17

Halftime: Penn 44, Cornell 44

Looks like 14-0 isn’t going to come as easily as many thought coming into the weekend. Wittman just tied the game going into the half, but the Quakers have to feel good about the way they are playing. Not only are they executing on offense, they are playing inspired ball, fighting for rebounds and diving for loose balls.

It seems like the crowd knows as well that perfection is at stake; the arena has been raucous considering it isn’t even close to full.

1st Half, 44.2: Penn 44, Cornell 42

As we head down the stretch in this half, things have gotten even more entertaining. Boths teams are raining three’s and making it look easy on offense. The highlight of the game so far, though, came on the defensive end. Jack Eggleston completely stuffed the seven-foot Jeff Foote, drawing quite a response from the home crowd.

1st Half, 3:59: Cornell 35, Penn 35

This game has been fin to watch so far. Both teams are executing on offense and getting oepn looks. Ryan Wittman, who has been quiet hit a wide open three from the wing, but Bernardini immediately responded with a three of his own. Looks like the Quakers are enjoying the role of spoiler so far.

1st Half, 7:54: Cornell 32, Penn 26

Biggest sequence of the early going: The ball was on the floor for a good ten seconds as players from both sides scrummed to recover it. Cornell eventually did, which led to another four-point play from Gore. This is looking a lot like the first two meetings between these two. Penn is playing well and hanging in there so far, but Cornell looks like they have too much offensive firepower.

1st Half, 11:56, Penn 19, Cornell 19

Grandieri gave his team the lead again with a three coming out of the last timeout, but seconds later Gore banged another one from deep. Big men Justin Reilly and Jeff Foote each scored on each other to keep it at a tie.

Sidenote, the crowd is actually pretty decent, considering most students aren’t on campus. The most full sections of the arena are the Cornell ones, though.

1st Half, 13:08: Penn 14, Cornell 14

Penn got off to a great start, gaining an early 7-point lead. But Adam Gore went on a personal 7-0 run, hitting two three’s, one going for a four-point play after a needless foul from Harrison Gaines.

1st Half, 15:34: Penn 11, Cornell 5

Brian Grandieri has come out agressive scoring three early baskets. A Tyler Bernardini three-point play gave Penn the early edge going into the first media timeout.

Rob Gross here at the Palestra to bring all of you Spring Breakers who are worried about what is going on here in West Philly the game updates. Stay tuned all night for live updates of the Quakers’ bid to knock off Cornell from the ranks of the Ivy unbeaten.

FINAL: HARVARD 89, PENN 79

Penn played a nice final ten minutes, but in case you haven’t heard there are 40 minutes in a college basketball game. Looks like Cornell has locked up the league with a win over Brown tonight.

2nd Half, 55.3: Harvard 83, Penn 72

Now this one is over, the last minute is a formality. Glen Miller has called his last timeout and Penn is in full-court press/foul mode. We want a Cem Dinc appearance!

2nd Half, 2:39: Harvard 76, Penn 66

A Bernardini 3 made it a single-digit game, but Kyle Fitzgerald stopped the Penn momentum with a huge basket inside, after Harvard worked the shot clock all the way down.

2nd Half, 4:04: Harvard 74, Penn 63

WAIT! It’s not over just yet.

The Quakers have put together a very nice offensive stretch and a Schreiber put-back three-point play made it an 11-point game. Dan McGeary just turned it over with a carry, forcing a Tommy Amaker timeout.

2nd Half, 7:44: Harvard 67, Penn 48

The margin hasn’t changed much, but at least Penn is starting to look respectable on offense. It’s going to be much too little, much too late though.

2nd Half, 10:50: Harvard 63, Penn 44

Every time Penn has shown signs of life Harvard has answered with some baskets. Bernardini finally got back on the board with some FTs, but he then missed short on a 3, which led to a Crimson fast-break score.

2nd Half, 13:44, Harvard 57, Penn 40

Much of the same. Penn is forcing it on offense. The effort is there, but when they have put together some good possessions, it seems Harvard is getting all the breaks and bounces.

Earlier, I forgot to mention that Harris went up for a monster throw down that would have torn off the glass roof here, but a Quaker got in his way and he went crashing to the floor. I don’t know how there was no foul on the play.

By the way, Bernardini only played six minutes in the first half due to 2 fouls. He hasn’t scored since his game-opening 3. Could be a major reason Penn looks so bad on offense.

2nd Half, 15:55, Harvard 52, Penn 33

The teams started where they left off in the first half. Lin has already gotten inside twice for easy layups and Penn continues to struggle from the floor. Unger is killing the Penn D; he just hit another 3.

1st Half Stats:

Leading Scorers: Penn - Grandieri (12), Harvard - Unger (16), Harris (14)

FG%: Penn - 12-36 (33.3%), Harvard - 16-27 (59.3%)

Points in the Paint: Penn - 12, Harvard - 24

FT-FTA: Penn - 1-2, Harvard - 10-11

Rebounds: Penn - 14 (9 offensive), Harvard - 22 (6 offensive)

Assists/Turnovers: Penn - 5/4, Harvard - 9/6

Halftime: Harvard 45, Penn 28

Yeah you read that right. Penn is down 17 at the half against a 2-and-7 league team.

Did they have some bad clam chowder on the way here from Hanover??? After putting up 88 last night, the Red and Blue look like they’re going to give up that much or more tonight. The offense is struggling, but the Quakers’ interior defenders don’t look like they could guard me right now (then again, I am a beast on the low block).

1st Half, 2:58: Harvard 41, Penn 25

Things are getting uglier for the Quakes on both sides of the court. Reilly missed two open 3’s and besides that, they have really struggled to get good looks. They finally put in a nice defensive possession, but Pusar gobbled the rebound and put it in for a new biggest lead.

1st Half, 6:17: Harvard 34, Penn 23

Harvard looks like a well-oiled machine on offense so far. I can’t count the amount of layups they’ve had. Unger, though, just gave the Crimson a double-digit lead by stepping outside for a 3.

1st Half, 7:46: Harvard 29, Penn 22

Penn is doing a better job stopping penetration than they did in the first matchup between these two, but the Crimson are finding other ways to score inside. They extended their lead thanks to and-one buckets by Unger and Harris. Harvard is also winning the free throw battle so far as the Quakers hit the penalty before the 10-minute mark.

1st Half, 11:57: Harvard 14, Penn 12

The Crimson have been working the pick and roll well, the latest time coming when Harris got a mismatch inside and scored on Egee. Justin Reilly, Harrison Gaines and Brenna Votel have all made early appearances for Penn.

1^st Half, 13:51: Harvard 12, Penn 9

Penn started it off with a Bernardini three, which is a great sign for the team. Harvard has taken over since, the best highlight coming on a Harris three-point play.

Penn Starters: Egee, Bernardini, Grandieri, Eggleston, Schreiber

Harvard Starters: G Jeremy Lin, G Drew Housman, G Andrew Pusar, F Evan Harris, F Brad Unger

Early Cofield Update: Remy is in street clothes.

Early Band Update: The Penn Band played “I’m a Barbie Girl” and the Harvard band played “Boom Boom Boom Boom, I want you in my room.”

Penn Band: 0, Harvard Band: 0

Hey it’s Rob Gross here in Cambridge (I think it’s Cambridge, it could be Boston or Allston or Brighton all of them at the same time). Anyway I’m hereto bring you live updates of tonights Penn-Harvard game. Refresh this page for updates throughout the night.

FINAL: Penn 88, Dartmouth 62. Comprehensive and convincing. Not much more to be said. Good night from New Hampshire and see you tomorrow from Hahvahd.

25 seconds left: And then he chucks an even deeper shot off the top of the square on the backboard. Er…oh well.
1:03 left: JOE GILL FROM WAY OUTSIDE. Literally, two-three steps behind the line.

3:08 left: Hearty applause for the starters as they come out. Aron Cohen comes in for (I think) his first action. Penn’s up 29. Joe Gill set to come in with 2:29 left! That’s when you know it’s a real blowout, Joe Gill is set to log multiple minutes. Let’s see if he gets on the scoresheet.

3:53 left: No Rock and Roll part 2, but then again, there doesn’t appear to be any Penn fans under the age of 50 in attendance. I’m told alumni aren’t the biggest fans of that…

7:04 left: Finally, a miss (Justin Reilly), the first of the second half. There’s an audible groan from press row. That’s the sound of a great lede slipping out of reach. Not that Glen Miller’s complaining.

9:25 left: 11 of 13.

10:21 left: 10 of 12. Even the Dartmouth PA announcer betrays a chuckle as he calls out Justin Reilly’s name.

11:47 left: 60-38 Penn. The Quakers are 9-11 from three. Yes, you read that right.

14:06 left: 55-34 Penn. A Dartmouth fan behind me yells that Harrison Gaines needs a shave. Meanwhile, Terry Dunn needs a timeout.

15:48 left: 49-32 Penn. Penn’s hitting at will, this is a 10-2 run.

18:47 left: Terry Dunn’s not happy either, but that has less to do with the band than with Penn draining yet another 3 (Schreiber this time). The Quakes are 7-9 from outside.

SECOND HALF TIPOFF: The Dartmouth band is redeeming itself with what I thought was the Lord of the Rings theme (A commenter corrects me…hey, I never even saw the movie!). Still a little heavy on the percussion. One of the refs agrees. “I’ve come to my conclusion,” he tells me with a wince. “The band is just…loud.”

I just got handed a stat sheet with Steve Danley’s name on it. Apparently Tyler Bernardini has graciously given up his No. 3 jersey back to the Marshall Scholar for the second half. The Danley/Bernardini combo has 8 points. Kevin Egee and DeVon Mosley lead all scorers with 11.

Penn’s 6 of 8 from downtown, 43.8 percent from the field. Dartmouth’s shooting at 35.3%. The Quakes are also outrebounding Dartmouth 27-14.

HALFTIME, PENN 39 DARTMOUTH 30: Harrison Gaines is putting on a clinic. He’s getting penetration at will to the basket. Meanwhile, Kevin Egee has thrown a few questionable passes and if Aron Cohen’s played, I haven’t noticed. As the halftime buzzer sounds Penn takes a deserved 9-point lead into the locker room.

The Dartmouth version of the Quaker Girls dance team doesn’t even wear matching uniforms. Also…not all of them are girls. It might be time to hit the media room. Back in 10 minutes for the second half.

1:28 left: 34-25 Penn. Penn’s shooting poorly from the line, and after Harrison Gaines misses the first of two Mike Martin looks particularly miffed. Play cards can’t help you now!

2:54 left: 30-25 Penn. Just as I say that, Grandieri takes the ball off Barnett. A minute later he hits an open 3 when Barnett can’t fight through a screen quick enough. Looks like the injury is still bugging him. He’s frequently the last guy up the floor on offense. Meanwhile, the stands have filled out a little more. 1,000 it ain’t, though. Blue is better is still safe.

5:45 left: 22-19 Penn. Grandieri on Barnett is a serious mismatch. Thankfully Penn gets a switch and Alex clangs a jumper with Bernardini in his face.

7:50 left: 19-18 Green. A kid who looks no older than 12 just made the layup-free throw-3 pointer combination that frustrates so many media timeout giveaway contestants at the Palestra. Cool as you like.

11:44 left: Apparently, the Dartmouth band just plays drums. Pretty sure I haven’t heard a song yet.

12:35 left: 14-12 Green. Brennan Votel seeing early action. Glen Miller calls timeout. He’s completely stoic as his players gather around him. That’s gon’ change.

Penn SID Mike Mahoney tells me that Cam Lewis is sick, and didn’t make the trip up north.

15:38 left: 10-6 Penn. Penn’s cooled off. Bernardini just made the awkward pass of the century and Schreiber couldn’t catch up.

19:09 left: 5-0 Penn after a Bernardini three. Timeout Dartmouth. To the commenter blue is better: You would have won. There are fewer than 500 people. Not that the DP condones gambling, or anything. Also, you are right about Cam Lewis, I don’t see him. I’ll try and find out what happened. 10-2 Penn now, 8 for Bernardini, including a three right in Barnett’s face.

Lineups: For Penn: Egee, Schreiber, Eggleston, Bernardini, Grandieri. For Dartmouth: Fitzgerald, Sanders, Mosley, Barnett, Ball. So Johnathan is playing after all. Very shrewd, Terry Dunn, very shrewd.

8 mins to tipoff: Forgot there’s a hockey game today. My over/under is off the board now. A few Dartmouth band members are here, though. There’s also a healthy group of Penn alumni (is there a Penn club of Hanover)?

20 mins to tipoff: I’m putting the over-under for attendance at 1500 (the building seats about 2000). It’s pretty slippery out there but quite a few people are already here. No sign of the Penn Band…leave a comment if you can shed any light. Did they make the trip?

Hello from Hanover, N.H., where Penn’s about 40 minutes away from tipping off against Dartmouth. The internet’s spotty here, but we’ll see what we can do.

Quick injury updates: Remy Cofield is sitting on the bench with his Brady boot on while his teammates are warming up. Looks like he’ll have to just watch tonight. He doesn’t look happy about it, either.

For the home side, Dartmouth coach Terry Dunn told the Valley News that Johnathan Ball would be doubtful for tonight, while Alex Barnett should be good to go. Haven’t seen Ball yet but Barnett is shooting around. Stick around for lineups when we get them.

FINAL: Penn 70, Princeton 65

In-game updates can be found after the jump.

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Final: Cornell 87, Penn 74

Penn made it somewhat respectable with a nice run midway through the second half. But the explosive Big Red offense proved to me too much to handle for the Quakers. Cornell’s players are enjoying the moment with their fellow students by throwing T-shirts into the stands. I bet Penn can’t wait to leave this state.

2nd Half, 43.8: Cornell 83-74

Grandieri cut it to single digits again with a “lucky” three pointer that be banked in from the wing. But Cornell built its lead with a pair of Dale free throws and to add insult to injury, Schreiber doinked a wide-open dunk, drawing more than a few jeers from the crowd. Penn is in foul mode now.

2nd Half, 2:14: Cornell 81, Penn 69

Never mind that whole comeback idea. All of a sudden the Big Red are back out to a double-digit lead and NOW this one is over. The real dagger came with a step-back three-pointer from Adam Gore.

2nd Half, 3:57: Cornell 74-69

Penn is starting to make me look bad as it has stormed back into this game in the last few minutes. Jack Eggleston brought Penn within 3 with a big three-pointer off a fastbreak pass from Gaines. Wittman answered with a huuuge three for the Big Red to give them a small cushion going down the stretch. The Penn press has been causing real problems for Cornell’s ball handlers.

2nd Half, 5:18: Cornell 71, Penn 64

Don’t warm up the bus back to Philly just yet. Thanks to an athletic tip-in from Schreiber and a tough jumper from Gaines, Penn is within single digits for the first time in a while. Gaines then stole the inbound pass following a Cornell timeout and hit two free throws to make it a seven point game. Penn has brought on the press and caused two Cornell turnovers since the timeout.

2nd Half, 7:48: Cornell 69, Penn 57

The Quakers are showing signs of life after a Grandieri three knocked the lead down to ten. After the teams traded baskets, Louis Dale hit yet another mid-range jumper.

2nd Half, 10:01: Cornell 65, Penn 50

Any hopes that tonight would be different from last night are quickly fading away. Jason Hartford’s three was a dagger even though we have ten minutes to go and without Tyler Bernardini here, Penn’s offense is simply not explosive enough to come back from this.

2nd Half, 11:23: Cornell 59, Penn 48

Alert! Ryan Wittman finally missed a 3, but Penn hasn’t capitalized. Harrison Gaines brought Penn within six with a n and-one drive and layup following some nice ball movement. The Big Red have rebuilt their lead thanks to some offensive rebounding and their ability to get to the line. By the way, the atmosphere here is pretty electric. The Cornell fans know that a change of guard in the Ivy League is at stake.

2nd Half, 15:47: Cornell 52, Penn 41

Wittman continued his three-point barrage to give Cornell a double digit lead. Brian Grandieri answered for Penn off a short jumper from an inbound play, but Louis Dale is proving tough to guard by the Penn D as he hit a smooth mid-range fadeaway.

2nd Half, 17:36: Cornell 47, Penn 39

Remy Cofield brought Penn within two after hitting a three from the corner to open the half. But Cornell quickly built their lead after Ryan Wittman got free off curls and hit back-to-back quick release 3’s.

Halftime: Cornell 41, Penn 36

After an embarrassing loss to Columbia last night, Penn has surprisingly kept it close. Andreas Schreiber is playing with supreme confidence inside and Harrison Gaines is showing his talent with some sweet moves and jumpers. Penn is doing a much better job defending the 3 than it did last night in Manhattan.

Louis Dale has been the most productive force for Cornell and he also is also leading the team in rebounds despite his 5-11 frame and thanks to his “Vince Carter-like hops” according to a fan behind me. We’ll see if Penn can stay in the game the rest of the way.

1st Half Stats:

Leading Scorers: Penn - Andreas Schreiber (14), Cornell - Louis Dale (12)

FG %: Penn - 15-30 (50%), Cornell - 12-25 (48%)

Rebounds: Penn - 17 (6 offensive), Cornell - 14 (3 offensive)

Assists: Penn - 8, Cornell - 9

Turnovers: Penn - 7, Cornell - 3

Rob Gross here finally in Ithaca for the Penn-Cornell contest. Due to some technical difficulties we were unable to bring you first half updates. Stay tuned for first half stats and updates throughout the second half.

Final, Penn 68, Dartmouth 66

Kevin Egee first makes a game-saving block on a Giobacchini layup attempt with Penn up 2. Off the inbound, Fitzgerald recovers the ball from a scramble and puts up a layup that sits on the rim for what seems like an eternity but it falls out and Penn squeaks out a win.

2nd Half :06, 68-66 Penn

Kach fouled Mosley — 40 feet from the basket — and he hit two. But Egee goes back to the line for Penn and made one.

2nd Half :18, 67-64 Penn

The Penn defense held, so Dartmouth was forced to foul Egee. He went to the line for a one-and-one and made both. Glen Miller calls his next-to-last timeout, and Dartmouth has one more good chance to tie the game coming up.

2nd Half :42, 65-64 Penn

Penn takes back the lead! Eggleston tipped in a jumper and Terry Dunn burned his final timeout.

2nd Half 1:14, 64-63 Dartmouth

Wow. Dartmouth hit a layup, Bernardini turned it over, and Barnett drew a foul and hit both free throws, and Dartmouth has a lead for the first time since 18:44 in the first half. This hasn’t been a sudden collapse, but Dartmouth has been chipping away for a long time now, and Penn has gone totally cold from the field. Crucial possession coming up.

2nd Half 2:21, 63-60 Penn

Dartmouth turned it over on the inbounds, and Reilly drew a foul in a scrum on the other end. He hit one, and then Giovacchini — he seems to be in on every play — airballed a three. Bernardini did the same on Penn’s next possession, and the Quakers’ lead is at three.

2nd Half 3:40, 62-60 Penn

Penn didn’t score, but Egee made sure Dartmouth didn’t either. He blocked a driving Giovacchini to preserve Penn’s two-point lead for now. Dartmouth has 4 seconds left on the shot clock when we come back from this timeout.

2nd Half 4:40, 62-60 Penn

No, no, no! Eggleston picks up his third foul. Kurt Graeber makes one. Game is dangerously close to slipping away.

2nd Half 5:16, 62-59 Penn

Bernardini may have helped breath life into the Big Green. He practically body-slammed Giovacchini as he was taking a three, and wouldn’t you know it, it ends up as a four-point play. Not a smart play at all.

2nd Half 5:34, 62-55 Penn

Ugly turnovers are preventing either team from doing much scoring now. Penn is doing the smart thing and taking its time on offense, working as much time off the clock as possible. It’s Grandieri, Eggleston, Bernardini, Egee and Reilly on the floor for the Quakers.

2nd Half 8:24, 60-53 Penn

Giovacchini rolled off a screen and hit a three. Schreiber had a chance to undo some of the damage, but missed two free throws. Only two timeouts left for Dartmouth.

2nd Half 9:34, 60-50 Penn

Barnett got open on the baseline for a dunk and Michael Giovacchini hit two free throws, but Eggleston answered with a lay-in, Gaines found Schreiber with a long pass for a dunk in transition and Grandieri hit another patented mid-range shot. Dartmouth is closing the gap, but if they can’t stop Penn from pulling down offensive rebounds, they won’t have enough possessions to come back.

2nd Half 13:52, 54-41 Penn

Grandieri scored inside and Bernardini hit a fadeaway mid-range J to maintain Penn’s lead despite a rare three-pointer from Dartmouth. Incidentally, Grandieri is playing much better than he did last night. Most of his scoring comes inside six feet, and after hitting a few long jumpers early he’s really gone to work down low against Dartmouth. He may have a double-double before this game is over.

2nd Half 15:48, 50-38 Penn

The Quakers have stretched the lead with some great inside play. Cameron Lewis scored twice inside three feet and Jack Eggleston hit a layup too. Egee is running the point and doing a satisfactory job, even though he just gave up the ball on an ill-advised 30-foot pass. He does that way too often, by the way.

Dartmouth is shooting horribly; this is Penn’s game to lose at this point.

The Red and Blue Crew comes out with its first rollout of the game: “We may have an off year, but you’re still Dartmouth.”

1st Half Statistics:

Leading Scorers: Penn - Eggleston (12), Dartmouth - Barnett (11)

FG%: Penn - 15-31 (48.4%), Dartmouth - 13-29 (44.8%)

Rebounds: Penn - 27 (12 offensive), Dartmouth - 11 (4 offensive)

Assists: Penn - 9, Dartmouth - 4

Turnovers: Penn - 6, Dartmouth - 5

The Philly Phanatic is in the house! Strange halftime entertainment of a pick up game featuring the Penn Quaker, the Villanova Wildcat, the Phanatic and the Philadelphia Soul’s Soul Man. It must be hard to move around in a mascot suit because these guys can’t buy a bucket. The Phanatic looks intoxicated and it seems like the Soul Man can’t see through his big sunglasses.

Halftime, 41-29 Penn

Dartmouth, down by ten and with the shot clock off, failed to take the last shot of the half, leading to a final Penn possession. After the ball was knocked out of bounds with 0.2 on the clock, Eggleston converted an alley-oop jumper to give Penn all the momentum going into the break.

1st Half 1:09, 37-29 Penn

Grandieri is heating up for the Quakers, but Barnett is keeping Dartmouth in the game. Like last night, Penn is allowing too much dribble penetration by opposing guards. Penn is starting to look pretty comfortable on offense though, exemplified by some nice ball movement that led to an Eggleston jumper from the top of the key.

1st Half 2:56, 31-24 Penn

Mosley scores inside after two Penn defenders can’t grab the board, but he then commits a needless reach-in foul, giving Eggleston two free throws, and misses a wide-open three. After a tough Bernardini layup between two Big Green defenders, Barnett winds up for a monster throw down but is fouled by Schrieiber. After the free throws Dartmouth put on the press, but the Quakers broke it easily and Grandieri hit a 3. Terry Dunn is really using his bench, 11 players have entered for the Big Green.

1st Half 7:02, 22-16 Penn

Harrison Gaines has entered the game but Egee remains on the floor with him. The combo seems to be working well so far. Marciano picked up his second foul and was sent to the bench. Ronnie Dixon, despite a nice drive to the hoop and layup conversion is getting the “AIR-BALL” treatment from the Penn students for an earlier three point attempt. Penn is killing Dartmouth on the offensive glass. Lewis just took a missed Gaines’ jumper and put it in for 2. Barnett responded by breaking Egee’s ankles and converting a baseline jumper.

1st Half 11:46, 13-8 Penn

Andreas Schreiber has made an immediate impact off the bench, First he forced a turnover fronting Marciano inside then he hit a short fadeaway jumper and later converted on a layup. Eggleston is exuding confidence and fighting hard inside, but Penn is turning the ball over, which led to a fastbreak layup by Mosley

1st Half 15:52, 5-4 Penn

I guess most of the Greeks had their share of school spirit last night, not much of a crowd here. It’s been somewhat of a sloppy game so far with a lot of deflections and some missed opportunities, including a Cam Lewis missed layup. Marciano looks like he is going to be a tough load to handle for the undersized Quakers inside.

Starting Lineups:

Dartmouth:

F Alex Barnett

F Johnathan Ball

C John Marciano

G DeVon Mosley

G Marlon Sanders

Penn:

F Cam Lewis

F Jack Eggleston

G Brian Grandieri

G Tyler Bernardini

G Kevin Egee

For some reason Penn is wearing their blue away uniforms and Dartmouth is sporting the home white. Justin Reilly had to wear Dan Monckton’s jersey last night after bloodying his own. This may confirm the suspicion that the Quakers don’t have any backup jerseys.

Rob Gross here at the Palestra to bring live updates from tonight’s Penn-Dartmouth contest. Stay tuned for the game’s events throughout the night.

Final, 73-69 Penn

Housman air-balls an off-balance three and Penn gets the ball out of bounds. Fitzgerald fouls Grandieri as he accepts the inbound pass. The captain hits one of two, but it’s enough to seal the game for his team.

2ndHalf 14.3, 72-69 Penn

Bernardini commits another costly turnover in a drive to the basket. Harvard calls a timeout after a frantic series where they nearly committed a turnover. Still down by 3, it will be interesting to see whether they go for a 2 or a 3.

2nd Half 43.1, 72-69 Penn

Eggleston gets a put back off a Bernardini missed layup. He then commits a foul away from the ball to give Harris two free throws. He sinks them despite the boos. Penn will have the ball up three following this timeout.

2nd Half 1:24, 70-67 Penn

A Grandieri layup gives Penn a three-point lead and now the Palestra is rocking, certainly the first time since the North Carolina game that there was much enthusiasm in this building.

2nd Half 2:06, 68-67 Penn

Turley misses the front end of a one-and-one, which could prove big as we approach crunch time. Lin continues to get to the basket for Harvard as he draws a foul inside and hits both from the charity stripe. The lead is going back and forth as Grandieri hits two free throws of his own. Turley makes up for his miss from the foul line by drawing a charge on Unger, who has just fouled out.

2nd Half 3:00, 66-65 Penn

Penn comes out of the timeout with a nice entry pass by Eggleston to Grandieri for a layup. The captain then commits a poor foul on Housman as he shoots an off-balance jumper. Unger hits a wide-open three from the top of the key to regain the lead for the Crimson but Harris knocks the ball into his own basket trying to block Egee’s layup, giving back the lead to Penn.

2nd Half 5:24, 62-61 Penn

Harris scores inside after a bad Bernardini turnover. We have out first tie since…well, for a long time. Eggleston breaks the tie off a nice feed from Gaines and Penn extends its lead off a short jumper from Grandieri. Fitzgerald answers once again with an and-one layup. He missed the free throw and two offensive rebounds later Lin hits a three to give Harvard its first lead…in a long time. After two Bernardini free throws that give Penn the lead, Eggleston draws a huge charge against Lin.

2nd Half 7:58, 56-54 Penn

Lewis is finally contributing as he scores on consecutive Penn possessions. He then gets a nice block on Housman inside. Harvard has entered a 2-3 zone for the first time in the game (we think). McGeary continues to kill Penn as he hits another three. He makes a bad play a few possessions later by trying to save a ball that was clearly off of Penn. The crowd has its loudest eruption of the night as the Free-Throw, 3-pointer, Half Court shot competitor sinks all three.

2nd Half 11:26, 51-47 Penn

Bernardini scores on an acrobatic drive to the lane. He has been the best offensive player in this game by a long shot. Eggleston continues to ask for the ball inside and he rewards his teammate’s pass with a nice reverse layup. Kyle Fitzgerald answers for Harvard with a short jumper followed by a layup after a terrible Turley turnover. Every time Penn looks like it will build a substantial lead, Harvard has responded to keep it close.

2nd Half 15:19, 45-40 Penn

Unger scores on a fast break but Penn responds with a beautiful back door play from Grandieri to Egee for the reverse lay in. The crowd erupts as Harris picks up a loose ball foul by undercutting Lewis. Cam continues his struggles as he misses a layup and picks up a foul on the other end, he is sent back to the bench. A Penn turnover leads to a breakaway dunk for crowd favorite Harris. Bernardini hits a huge three to give Penn a five-point advantage but Harvard gets to the free throw line on the next possession. It is starting to look like this one will go down to the wire.

1^st Half Stats:

Leading scorers: Penn – Bernardini, 13, Harvard – Unger, 9

FG %: Penn – 12-30 (40%), Harvard – 10-28 (35.7%)

Rebounds: Penn – 22 (6 offensive), Harvard – 18 (6 offensive)

Assists: Penn – 7, Harvard - 4

Turnovers: Penn – 8, Harvard - 8

The half time activities have been more entertaining than the game so far. The sororities are battling it out in tug of war. Alpha Chi Omega prevails in the final thanks to some help from the volleyball team. My tye-dye girls lost and I still can’t figure out which sorority it is, their shirt is hard to read.

At the Half, 35-31 Penn

Lewis finally returns to the game at the 1:34 mark. Penn is exploited inside immediately as McGeary gets in too easily for a layup. Jeremy Lin keeps it a six-point game with a nice block and Housman gets inside again for the Crimson to cut the Penn lead to 4.
1st Half 1:34, 35-27 Penn

Reilly returns to the game wearing a #30 jersey. Mike Kach hits a big three but Harvard answers with some nice ball movement and picks up some free throws for Unger. Penn gets a fast break off a long rebound the next possession and Bernardini finishes with a nice move to the hoop. It gives Penn its biggest lead of 9. Conor Turley puts on a beautiful spin move inside. Too bad he misses the wide-open layup, again.

1st Half 3:51, 29-22 Penn

Egee is playing a nice all-around game so far as he gotten a couple steals and more than his share of rebounds. Aron Cohen finally enters the game at the 4:08 mark. Eggleston gets a nice block inside but Harris recovers the ball and gets fouled. So far my favorite sorority outfit is whoever is wearing the tye-dye shirts. I’ll try to find out which one it is and report back.

1st Half 6:00, 25-19 Penn

The offenses have gotten increasingly ugly since the near fight. Both teams are turning the ball over with offensive fouls. To make it worse, Conor Turley just missed a wide open layup off an inbound pass. He is going to have to step up with Schreiber sidelined. Both Gaines and Lewis have been riding the bench since being ineffective early. Reilly returns to the bench and gets an ovation after the knock he took from Harris.

1st Half, 7:47, 21-19 Penn

Penn looks pretty active defensively but they are turning the ball over as well. The Harris-Reilly incident has created a buzz in the arena and the Penn students are booing every time Harris touches the ball. The energy in here has distracted me from checking out the sorority section, updates on that are coming though.

1st Half, 9:03, 21-17 Penn

Things get heated as Harris and Reilly collide and Harris throws him to the floor. Harris cocks back as if ready to punch Reilly but is held back by his teammates. The Penn bench nearly clears but things are kept under control. Harris is given an intentional foul and Reilly takes a personal. Brennan Votel and Andreas Schreiber are ejected for leaving the bench. Losing Schreiber could prove a huge blow to the Quakers. The Penn students promptly start a “Harris sucks” chant.

1st Half, 11:34 17-16 Penn

Harrison Gaines gets a big ovation as he enters for Egee. Harvard continues to feed the ball inside but it looks like Andreas Schreiber is more capable of defending them inside. Dan McGeary has hit two three’s since coming off the bench to keep the Crimson within one. By the way, it looks like the Greeks are starting to show up, Penn’s student section is alive and very much full.

1st Half, 15:27 12-8 Penn

The back door is working early for Penn as Bernardini and Egee have been able to get behind the Crimson D. Two early exclamation points for Penn as Bernardini gets open back door for a slam and Lewis takes a nice entry pass from Grandieri for another dunk. Even Harris and Brad Unger look to be too much for Penn’s interior defenders so far.

The starting lineups:

Harvard:

F Brad Unger

F Evan Harris

G Jeremy Lin

G T.J. Carey

G Andrew Pusar

Penn -

F Jack Eggleston

F Cam Lewis

G Tyler Bernardini

G Brian Grandieri

G Kevin Egee

Either the fraternities are late to show up or this is a sorry crowd for Greek Night and the Ivy opener. We’ll see if it fills up.

The Quakers look more pumped up than any game so far this season as they get in a NFL worthy moshpit before warmups. We’ll see if it translates to a high level of intensity once the ball is tipped.

Hey it’s Rob Gross here at the Palestra for Penn’s opening Ivy game of the season, against Harvard. Stay tuned for live updates throughout the night.

During a lull in Wednesday’s match, with the women’s squash team down 4-0, I was walking around the viewing area and managed to make eye contact with coach Jack Wyant.

He looked at me and asked, “Did you count us out?”

I answered “no,” as any dutiful reporter would do, but in my mind, I was figuring out if there was any way to put a positive spin on what was looking to be a devastating loss for the program.

Looking back, I probably should have counted them out. I should have counted them out before the match, when they were going against the defending national champions and top-ranked team in a sport where upsets are nearly non-existent. I should have counted them out when they were losing 3-0 after the first cycle and 4-0 shortly thereafter, when members of the team were sulking away from the courts and being dominated on them.

Even after the comeback started, I should have counted them out with junior Tara Chawla, already down two games to one, losing 6-4 to Princeton’s Emery Maine in the fourth game. I could even have counted them out after Chawla lost the serve and first point of the tiebreaking game.

Quite frankly, though, it doesn’t matter what I thought, because the team never counted themselves out.

“If we’re going to win 5-4 or 6-3, those losses have to come at some point,” Chawla said. “They just happened to come in the beginning this match.”

On a team with only one freshman, true unity and chemistry can lead to absolute faith in each other to win under even the most adverse situations.

“This team spends so much time together,” senior co-captain Lauralynn Drury said. “We can’t help but be confident in the girls we train with.”

In the end, it is that confidence that allowed the Red and Blue to come back and truly earn that victory over Princeton. It is also that attitude which could make the intangible difference between last year’s 4th-place Howe Cup finish and the unlimited potential of this year’s squad.

–Neil Fanaroff