Fresh off their last-second victory over Villanova last Wednesday, the Red and Blue (9-5, 2-1 Big 5) now turn their attention to Temple (9-9, 2-1). 

On the heels of last week's thrilling game between Penn and Temple, we asked four writers in DP sports their opinions on the best player in the Big Five outside of Villanova.

In this week's edition of Is Stat So?, more school and pool records fall, and Penn men's squash runs up against an opponent it cannot handle.

The games aren't all played in the cathedral of basketball anymore, and there's no trophy at stake for the winners, but make no mistake: This conference still matters. 

In a nearly sold-out Palestra, the Red and Blue  were locked into a hard-fought matchup the whole game against the Owls, but ultimately fell 60-51.

In a thriller, senior guard Anna Ross dictated exactly how the script would end: with the ball in her hands. It was her last-second bucket that proved the difference as Penn eked past Villanova 79-77. 

It's not that Nwokedi's impact on each game has diminished. Rather, coach Mike McLaughlin and the team have needed her to play a new role this season. And, according to McLaughin, the changes in the past few weeks have been due to her growth in that new role.

11 years. That's how long it's been since the last time Penn men's basketball defeated Temple in 2007 — which is also the year of the Quakers' last NCAA tournament appearance. Behind the superb play of sophomores Ryan Betley and AJ Brodeur, the Quakers are confident they can take their first win over Temple in a decade.  

For the Quakers, the only starter who was not previously a fixture in the starting lineup is junior forward Max Rothschild. After averaging 13.6 minutes per game and starting three games combined in his first two seasons at Penn, Rothschild has averaged 23.9 minutes per game this season, starting all 17 games. And so far, he has validated coach Steve Donahue’s decision to increase his role.

In this week's edition of Is Stat So?, we look at several individual and team records that were broken this weekend, as well as a few key numbers that allowed men's squash and women's basketball to emerge victorious.

Following the sweeps, two stars of the Penn men’s and women’s basketball programs, sophomore forward AJ Brodeur and freshman center Eleah Parker, were named Ivy League Player of the Week for their contributions.

After Penn women’s basketball lost to arch-rival Princeton last Saturday, the team rebounded spectacularly this weekend, defeating Cornell and Columbia in consecutive weekends behind the stellar play of Eleah Parker.

As great as this 3-0 conference start is, it’s not as if the Red and Blue are playing perfect basketball. Coach Steve Donahue acknowledged after the victory over Columbia that this team is still constantly trying to improve week to week and is learning how to close out basketball games. 

Sophomore forward AJ Brodeur filled up the statsheet for the Quakers (12-5, 3-0 Ivy) in Friday’s 69-61 victory against Cornell, only to come back the next night with an even better performance. In the Saturday night matchup versus Columbia, Brodeur led the Red and Blue in a tightly contested 77-71 victory.  

The Quakers started off a little slow, but outplayed Columbia for the final 35 minutes of the game en route to a largely comfortable 70-51 win. The night before, The Red and Blue took down Cornell by a score of 68-48 to sweep the New York Ivies. Against the Lions, Penn (8-5, 2-1 Ivy) was led once again by another dominant performance from freshman Eleah Parker who set a new career high with 22 points.

On Friday, Penn men's basketball played its second Ivy League game of the season, defeating rival Cornell, 69-61. The Quakers (11-5, 2-0 Ivy) were paced by AJ Brodeur with 18 points, while guards Ryan Betley and Darnell Foreman joined him in double figures with 13 and 12 points respectively. Overall, it was a strong win for the Red and Blue in the first of back-to-back home games.

Penn women’s basketball put the rest of the Ivy League on notice with Friday’s 68-48 home victory against Cornell. The Quakers, while not playing a perfect game, took a step in the right direction with their first Ivy victory of the young season.