LOS ANGELES — There comes a point in between semesters where you need a break from winter break. That’s just what Penn women’s basketball got with a five-day working vacation in California this past week.

Penn men's basketball opened up its season against Princeton on Saturday, and it didn't take long for it to get back to full intensity. Here are our first-ever stars of the game, as well as other important takeaways.

Penn women’s basketball went to Princeton on Saturday to open up their Ivy League season with an absolute thriller.  As for the players, there was a mixed bag of performances. Below here are our first ever player ratings:

You know those times when no matter what you do, even if you do almost everything right, things just don’t quite seem to work out in your favor? Penn men’s basketball had one of those nights when it traveled up to Princeton on Saturday night.

After an extremely back-and-forth game, the Quakers pulled ahead in the fourth quarter and held off a last minute onslaught by the Tigers to win by the score of 62-57.

Out with the old and in with the new. The 2016 portion of the Penn men’s basketball season is over, and with it the bulk of the non-conference schedule.

Penn women's basketball knows the road to an Ivy League championship goes through Princeton’s Jadwin Gym. After all, it was in that very building that the Quakers won the Ivy title last year and officially punched their ticket to the NCAA tournament.

LOS ANGELES — The team that came to California was not going to defend its Ivy title. It isn’t just that Penn women’s basketball hadn’t been playing well — though that was certainly the case.

RIVERSIDE, Calif. — In the City of Angels, a star was born. Thanks to a team-high 15 points from freshman Phoebe Sterba, Penn women’s basketball completed a sweep of its California adventure with a 71-55 win over UC Riverside on Monday.

Everything looks better from above .500. Penn men’s basketball topped visiting Fairfield, 74-68, today in its second and final winter break home matchup. Freshman AJ Brodeur led the Quakers to a hard-fought victory with a career-high 27 points.

Behind a career-high 13 points from sophomore forward Princess Aghayere, Penn took unquestionably its top win of the season, topping Cal State Northridge, 47-36, in a gritty defensive battle.

Only 0.6 miles separate the basketball facilities of Penn and Drexel, and somehow that proximity is reflected on the scoreboard whenever the two teams play.

Penn men’s basketball will take a vacation over the next few weeks, with its next game coming December 28 against Drexel at the Palestra.

A lot can happen in three weeks. When Penn women’s basketball next takes to the court, three weeks will have gone by since the team’s last outing. Last Saturday, the Quakers won a nail-biter against Richmond 47-44, but now they’ll have a new challenge, not playing basketball. “It’s a chance for us to take a little bit of a pause and reflect on where we are at,” coach Mike McLaughlin said.

“Trust The Process.” The phrase is only three words, but for Philadelphia 76ers fans, it has come to mean so much more.

If I told you that Penn could be a great place to be a college sports fan, how would you react? You would probably laugh at me, and for most people, this statement doesn't hold up.

All season long, Penn men's basketball appeared to be on the verge of improvement in coach Steve Donahue’s second year in charge, but the Quakers still needed that signature win to prove to the college basketball world that they were for real. Thanks to a breakout performance from junior Sam Jones, that big-time victory is in the books.