It means that with the game on the line and Alex Mitola in possession of the ball, it wasn’t Dartmouth celebrating a win: It was Penn and that’s something to hang your hat on, at least for one day.

With Penn basketball approaching the midway point in its season, fans and opposing coaches alike seem to think they know what Penn is made of. But the advanced stats tell the whole story.

There will always be those who are staunch defenders of anti-tournament model for the Ancient Eight, but that’s exactly what it is: ancient.

It isn’t every night that Penn basketball gets to play in front of a sold-out crowd, but Saturday’s game against No. 5 Villanova isn’t an ordinary night.

In the first meeting between the two teams since 1995, the Quakers defeated Richmond for the first time in school history, 49-47, off the strength on a late three from freshman Anna Ross.

The clock is ticking on Jerome Allen. Penn basketball is 3-8 this season, a subpar record in its own right.

PRINCETON - Everything was set up for Penn basketball to set the tone for the remainder of Ivy League play, to capture a win over its biggest rival in an arena that had been a house of horrors for over half a decade. But suddenly, the opportunity was gone.

Last season, Penn women’s basketball went on the road and ended Princeton’s season, upsetting the Tigers to win the Ivy League title. In their return trip to Jadwin Gym, the Quakers wouldn’t be so fortunate.

Last season, Sydney Stipanovich became the first player in Ivy League history to win the Ancient Eight's Rookie of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year awards in the same season. If the sophomore puts together a few more games like her performance on Monday night against UMBC, she may add Player of the Year to her already loaded trophy case in the near future. Nine days after Penn women's basketball's disappointing loss to Drexel, one in which Stipanovich notched only eight points and three rebounds in 23 minutes, the Red and Blue rebounded in style with a 69-63 win over the Retrievers due in large part to the second-year center's incredible outing. Despite battling a UMBC (5-5) frontcourt highlighted by three players over six-feet tall, Stipanovich recorded 29 points and 14 rebounds while senior forward Kara Bonenberger added 14 points and eight boards of her own as the Quakers (5-4) won for only the second time in December. After the game, Penn coach Mike McLaughlin was not only impressed with his frontcourt's production, but the ability of his team to respond to a short winter break. "This is a group that only got four or five days home for Christmas yet they all probably wanted to spend more time at home," McLaughlin said.

2015 Cheshire Academy (Ct.) shooting guard Tyler Hamilton verally committed to Penn basketball on Monday, becoming the fifth member of the Quakers' Class of 2019, reports Alex Kline of The Recruit Scoop. Hamilton is a 6-foot-4, 180 pound guard from Norcross, Ga.

Penn women’s basketball will be staying home in Philadelphia for the holidays with four games in Philadelphia prior to playing at Princeton on Jan. 10.

When the second half began, the Quakers came alive, defeating the Hawks, 66-51, to end a two-game losing streak.

This season, the two schools will tip off for the 231st and 232nd time in the historic matchup on dates that are inconvenient for the majority of Penn’s student body. But that is this year. It absolutely shouldn’t become a trend, especially if you want students to be engaged with the best of Penn traditions.

No matter what Penn basketball accomplishes -- or doesn't accomplish -- this year, every single narrative surrounding the program will tie into the degree of proverbial heat underneath the chair of a certain coach in his fifth full season.

It seems that there are four constants in the world today (to borrow a frequently posted tweet from CBS college basketball insider Jon Rothstein): Death.

For Penn women’s basketball, the difference between the first half and the second half of Friday’s game was night and day.

Penn women’s basketball may be coming off of a loss in its last game, but there are a couple streaks coach Mike McLaughlin's squad will be eager to continue when it takes the court against Hampton on Friday night at the Palestra.