Penn basketball came out of the gates at the Palestra trying to avoid the number eight. With three games left in their season, a loss against Columbia would have been the Quakers' eighth consecutive defeat and made the Red and Blue's first ever eighth-place Ivy League finish almost inevitable. But after holding the Lions to a paltry 15 percent shooting in the first half, the Quakers held on for a 54-46 win over their Empire State rivals to snap a program record seven-game Ivy losing streak.

The Quakers won’t be sending all six to them semi-finals, but they certainly held their own against some of the East Coast’s top grapplers.

Instead of heading back home to get some much-needed rest and relaxation, DP Sports is going all in to cover the Red and Blue in the opening weekend of Spring Break.

Are you ready to rumble? The Red and Blue’s wrestling season is about to hit critical mass with the approaching EIWA Conference Championships this weekend. The Quakers, who are led by six All-Ivy grapplers, are in strong position to finish near the top of the heap Saturday in Bethlehem, Pa., something many believed to be unfathomable a few months ago.

The madness of the NHL Trade Deadline in Philadelphia, which passed at 3:00 p.m. on Monday, did not limit itself to the Flyers’ offices at the Wells Fargo Center. It touched Penn’s campus as well. After scheduling quirks forced the Calgary Flames away from the usual venue in which teams visiting the Flyers practice and to Penn, a pair of the squad’s sessions at the University’s Class of 1923 Arena quickly verged into the surreal as the team’s management wheeled and dealed earlier this week. On Sunday, the Flyers hosted their annual Flyers Wives’ Carnival, a massive charity event that took up the entire floor at the Wells Fargo Center and featured a Ferris wheel that fit inside the building by — quite literally — an inch.

The year was 2011. The Dallas Mavericks had just won their first NBA title. Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep” was named the number one song of the year.

As spring break quickly approaches, Penn men’s tennis is excited to depart frigid Philadelphia for New Mexico, a destination as physically hot as the Quakers’ recent play.

After getting a first taste of live pitching, real grass and natural sunlight last weekend in Florida, Penn is set to head down to Virginia for a baseball-filled spring break.

Now, the games really count. Penn women’s lacrosse will dip into Ivy play on Saturday for the first time in the 2015 season, as they will travel to take on Brown.

The numbers tell the story: Penn basketball has been anything but successful in Ivy League play this season. In the midst of a seven-game losing streak, the Quakers have only three contests remaining before wrapping up their 2014-15 campaign.

Penn women’s lacrosse has been perched atop the Ivy League throne for so long that it’s the only view any player on the current roster has known in her collegiate career. It’s mindboggling to look at the Quakers’ continued string of success.

What was a freshman-heavy roster last year has now blossomed into a more mature, more aggressive squad. Penn looks poised to burst through the barrier from a good team to a truly dominant team.

Penn men's lacrosse snapped a two-game skid in the slushy Lehigh Valley weather on Tuesday night. The Quakers pulled out a 9-6 win over Lafayette with some unexpected help from senior midfielder Chris Moriarty, who led the way with a hat trick. Penn (3-2) got a solid effort in goal from junior Jimmy Sestilio, who made 10 saves and strengthened his case to win what appears to be an up-for-grabs position in net. Jason Sands scored the first goal of the game for the Leopards, but the Quakers struck twice in quick succession with goals from Moriarty and senior Chris Hupfeldt.

As a bookish, unathletic high school freshman, Elton Cochran-Fikes shuddered at the idea of anything having to do with sports. Little did he know that, less than a decade later, he would become the first Ivy League athlete to run a mile in less than four minutes.

Early in the Ivy League season, Penn basketball nearly lost one of its freshman phenoms to injury.

It hasn't been quite the start of the season that Penn men’s lacrosse had hoped for.

The first win is out the way. Already ahead of last year’s pace, there should be many more to come for Penn baseball. The Red and Blue dropped two of three games against Stetson in Florida to open their 2015 season, winning the second game in between losses in the series opener and rubber match on Friday and Sunday, respectively.