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.

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.

With only preseason tournaments under their belt thus far, Penn’s men and women fencing teams will look to use winter break as one of the final tune-ups before the rigors of the conference season begin.

The Penn women’s and men’s squash teams go into the winter break having two somewhat distinct experiences to start their seasons.

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.

Sports Editor-elect Jonathan Pollack: For me, the best part of Penn Athletics this year was sprint football winning its first outright CSFL title since 2000, so the best moment should come from that season.

For the second time this week, Penn women's basketball went right down the stretch. This time, however, it was much happier with the result.

This was a game Penn should’ve won. With leads late in both the 4th quarter and overtime, it was the Quakers’ game for the taking.

Penn women's basketball, playing far better of late, will look for far better results in its second Big 5 contest. The Quakers (3-3) will be at home on Wednesday night to take on La Salle (4-4) for some midweek action at the Palestra.

Sometimes Red, White and Blue comes before Red and Blue. For Penn squash phenom Reeham Salah, that was the case when she joined up with Team USA for the Women’s World Team Championships last weekend in Paris, France.

Bigger isn’t always better. Just don’t tell that to Penn women’s basketball coach Mike McLaughlin.

Both the men's and women's teams traveled to Gambier, Ohio, for their final meet of 2016: the Total Performance Invitational at Kenyon College. Over the course of the three-day meet, both teams cruised to first-place finishes, blowing out the closest competition.

Sometimes in sports, everything just clicks, and you make the game look so easy. That's what happened today for Penn's women's basketball, as they cruised to a 63-39 victory over Wagner.

 Carr finishes her tenure as the winningest coach in program history at 282-221 (149-95 Ivy).

Just what the doctor ordered. After a slow start to the season, Penn women’s basketball headed to Lafayette seeking a win to turn their season around.

They're already Philly's finest; now it's time to take it nationwide. Penn men's and women's swimming are on the road to Gambier, Ohio this Thursday to compete in the Total Performance Invitational at Kenyon College.