A week of sweet sun, beautiful weather and team bonding turned sour over the course of a few hours.

Friday afternoon, San Diego State downed Penn’s women basketball, 51-37, to win the San Diego Surf N’ Slam tournament for the third time in four years. Adding insult to injury, the Quakers (7-3) also had to finish up the game without forward Jess Knapp.

Midway through the first half, she fell awkwardly on a jump stop injuring her knee in the process. Knapp, who was on crutches after the game, will be checked out by the Penn medical staff upon arriving in Philadelphia with no word yet on a timetable for recovery.

The senior captain, who along with sophomore guard Alyssa Baron, was named to the all-Tournament team. Knapp has had knee injuries in the past when she missed her entire freshman season with an ACL injury.

The injury dampened the mood on a day when Penn struggled on the boards against 6-foot-6 center Malia Nahinu, forward Chairese Culberson and tournament MVP and Duke-transfer Chelsea Hopkins. The Red and Blue sorely missed Knapp’s presence down low and were out-rebounded 49-24 leading to 15 second chance points.

“We would stop [SDSU] every time on their first attempt, but they would get second and third chances,” Penn coach Mike McLaughlin said after the game.

Penn also had trouble against the quick and athletic Aztecs in the offensive end with Baron leading the Quakers with a quiet 15 points on 13 attempts from the field.

“They’re big, strong and athletic and closed out on every shot contested,” McLaughlin said. “We executed well, we just didn’t finish or score enough.”

However the one takeaway from the round-robin tournament was the solid defense that Penn continued to exhibit. The Quakers two-three zone continually frustrated the Aztecs (9-4) in the second half and their pressure defense served them well the day before as they knocked off UNC-Greensboro, 47-36.

“We just had to play to our strengths, that’s definitely our defense,” Baron said. “In the first half and second half we were able to contain [SDSU] a little bit. They killed us on the boards, and we tried to fight back.”

In the first game of the tournament for the Quakers on Thursday against UNC-Greensboro, Baron recorded her first career double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Knapp also chipped in for nine points and eight boards.

However the trip proved to be more than just about basketball as the Quakers got to visit the San Diego Zoo and La Jolla in-between practices and games.

“It was a great learning experience and a lot of fun,” Baron added. “The games were what we were preparing for and we took care of business in the first game, and in the second we came close. Overall it was a big success.”

The Quakers will open up their conference schedule next week against defending Ivy champion Princeton on Jan. 7 at the Palestra.