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.

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.

While most students take the upcoming winter break to recover from finals and spend time with friends and family, Penn squash will be taking no days off as they continue to prepare for the tough Ivy slate ahead. The Quakers will be thrust into new environments and pitted against tough competition on their road to the Ivy League opener at the Ringe Squash Courts, including a trip across the pond.. “The boys are looking forward to the England trip,” Assistant coach Gilly Lane said.

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

Sunday afternoon proved to be heartbreaking at Ringe courts for Penn men’s squash. In a match where four positions in the ladder were forced to five games, only one of them went Penn’s way.

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.

The No. 9 Quakers will take on No. 16 Navy on Wednesday evening at 5 p.m. at the Ringe Squash Courts and hope to improve to 4-0 to begin the year.

Penn fell to Lafayette on Tuesday night, 60-57. The Quakers (3-2) were unable to execute on offense in the second half to overcome an overpowering performance by Lafayette forward Emily Homan.

The Quakers blitzed New Hampshire on Tuesday night, 74-37, controlling all facets of the game while showing off their depth.

The hot start for Penn women’s swimming and diving cooled down this weekend, but a strong performance against mismatched opponents has kept the embers lit.

After dismantling La Salle during their home opener on Wednesday, the Red and Blue defeated Navy, 60-51, in Annapolis on Saturday, another impressive victory for the defending Ivy League champs.

In a game that started with the raising of the Quakers’ 2013-14 championship banner, Penn took control from the get-go, stifling La Salle in a 57-29 victory.

Normally, a 45-point blowout is cause for major concern. But this isn’t most matchups, and as coach Mike McLaughlin and the rest of the team knew going in, this would have to be a game to build off of. 

Has Penn men’s squash turned the corner? Is the women’s squash team finally ready to take down Harvard and Trinity? One is left to ponder the future of both squads after their surprising performances at last weekend’s Ivy Scrimmages.

After a season of ups and down, the Quakers left their heart and soul on the field against their biggest rival, defeating the Tigers, 3-2, in one of the most thrilling and emotional matches of the season.

As Penn men’s and women’s squash look to soon begin the season, there is just one thought on their minds – improving.