Ireland is famous for a few things: potatoes, U2, soccer, beer, and the drunken brawls and all-around hooliganism that usually ensues after the latter two. Basketball is not one of those traditional Irish pastimes. But Paul Cummins was able to parlay his skills into a scholarship to an American high school and a successful collegiate career.

The Rider women's basketball team compiled a dismal 2-28 record last year, including a 77-65 home loss to Penn. But the Quakers are catching the Broncs at the wrong time. Despite very little turnover on the roster, they have already surpassed last year's win total with a 3-2 start under new coach Lynn Milligan, including a 76-74 victory over Central Florida in their last game.

After stressing about the way his team has played the past week, maybe coach Pat Knapp can finally relax. "It's a big difference a week makes," Knapp said. The women's basketball team beat what sophomore guard Sarah Bucar called "a quality team" in Loyola-Maryland, 70-57 Sunday at the Palestra.

The ties between the Virginia and Penn basketball programs seem endless. One connection includes a then-sophomore forward who made a lot out of his 12.4 minutes per game under Fran Dunphy. That would be Ryan Pettinella - now Virginia's powerful 6-foot-9 starting center.

The 2-4 Quakers didn't have much going for them. They had lost at home to a Howard team allowing 82.3 points per game and their only win came over a Citadel team with only three non-freshmen on the roster. But a couple of second-half spurts helped Penn come away from Thanksgiving break with a respectable 85-100 loss to No. 23 Virginia on Friday night and a 71-67 win over Navy in the third-place game of the Philly Classic on Saturday.

The Penn wrestling team took an easy 26-5 victory over Virginia Tech on Sunday, but don't think the Quakers have it all figured out yet. The team saw deficiencies from the top and bottom positions. With few exceptions, the team had difficulty controlling their opponent from the top, and were incapable of turning their opponents.

After four minutes of basketball, both Penn and Navy had yet to sink a shot. But Brian Grandieri took matters into his own hands, adding a layup four minutes into the contest for the first points of the game. He would go on to lead the Quakers with 18 points and nine rebounds as Penn pulled out a 71-67 win over the Midshipmen Saturday night.

The Quakers can now take that sigh of relief after getting their first win last night. But they'd better not take too long exhaling, because No. 23 Virginia comes to town Friday to take on Penn in the first round of the Philly Classic. The date kicks off a markedly difficult stretch in Penn's nonconference schedule, in which it plays the Cavaliers, either Seton Hall or Navy the next day, then Villanova and North Carolina a week later.

Coming into the season, the Penn women's basketball team had defeated Big 5 rival Saint Joseph's only once in 32 games. That pattern continued last night as the Hawks cruised to a 63-46 victory over the Quakers (1-3).

Penn was heading in a downward spiral. The Quakers had just gone 0-3, putting up 65 points against a Howard team that surrendered 110.5 points per game in its first two. But with the pressure on, freshman point guard Harrison Gaines responded like a grizzled veteran.

The wait is finally over. The Quakers are in the win column. Senior captain Brian Grandieri stabilized the offense and led the Quakers in scoring, as he has all season long, and the underclassmen that Grandieri had called out just a few days earlier finally showed up to help Penn right its ship with a 93-77 victory over The Citadel last night at the Palestra.

Kory Gedin is nothing if not an opportunist. Gedin graduated from Penn last year as a two-time All-Ivy player after starting three seasons at linebacker for the Quakers. But only on Saturday did he end his final year of college eligibility as a part-time player for Wagner College in New York City.

MORGANTOWN, W. Va. - The Penn women's soccer team came into its first-round NCAA College Cup match against James Madison expecting to have its hands full with the Dukes' speed and athleticism. In the game's opening minutes, it looked as if the Quakers would have no chance to stop the speed of James Madison's attacking players, let alone slow them down.

NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- Man, they really had us going. Undefeated Yale was the toast of the Ivy League. As junior tailback Mike McLeod made his assault on the record books and the Bulldogs kept winning, their stock kept rising. By the eve of Saturday's Ivy title game, Yale had risen to No.

Coach Pat Knapp wants his basketball team to get back to the fundamentals. After Saturday's 66-44 debacle against Manhattan, Knapp has been stressing three aspects of the game - defensive execution, rebounding and offensive rhythm - in preparation for the Quakers' Big 5 showdown against Saint Joseph's (2-1) tonight at the Palestra.

The last time they played the Citadel, the Quakers breezed past the Bulldogs, 88-49. But that was back in the spring of 2006, when points -and wins came easily. Indeed, Penn has taken all four meetings between the schools by a combined score of 362-225.

It took a while, but the Quakers that were expected to vie for the league title finally showed up. They scored early and often, while keeping Cornell off the scoreboard for 55 minutes, en route to a dominating 45-9 victory. "We just got whipped in all three facets of the game," Cornell coach Jim Knowles said.