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Monday, February 24



Good morning, Penn.


Welcome back to Quaker Nation, Penn's premier sports newsletter.

With the romance of the Super Bowl fading, Penn returns to its regularly scheduled programming. Ivy League basketball is coming to a close, championships have been won, and some sports are just getting started!

In this week's edition, we're spotlighting the retirement of one of Penn's greatest-ever coaches and checking in with Penn men's and women's basketball as their seasons come to a close. 

Without further ado, let’s dive into the latest stories from The Daily Pennsylvanian Sports:

Senior Night heartbreak: Penn men's basketball was officially eliminated from Ivy Madness contention after an overtime loss to Harvard.

Stepping up to the plate: Before the season, Penn baseball showed out on Locust Walk to hold a "Vs. Cancer" drive — shaving each other's heads while raising money for pediatric brain cancer.

Tiger wrangling: In a dominant showing, Penn wrestling stomped Princeton in a 31-7 rout. 
 
Design by Dana Bahng
SPORTS

Legendary former Penn men's basketball Fran Dunphy set to retire

 
Legendary former Penn men’s basketball coach Fran Dunphy will retire from his current position as head coach of La Salle at the end of the 2024-25 season. Dunphy — whose 310 wins at Penn rank first in program history and second all-time in the Ivy League — served as the Quakers’ head coach from 1989-2006 and won 10 Ivy League titles.
  
Photo by Grace Chen
MEN'S BASKETBALL

Penn men's basketball eliminated from Ivy League tournament contention following 79-78 loss to Harvard.


In a heartbreaking thriller, Penn men's basketball fell to Harvard 79-78 after a furious second half and intense overtime on Senior Night. Though hopes for the Ivy League Tournament were dashed, senior forward/center Nick Spinoso recorded a career-high of 24 points.
 
 


WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

Penn women's basketball downs Cornell 68-63 in tight matchup


After an evenly-matched three quarters, as the 18 lead changes throughout the game showed, Penn women's basketball senior guard Stina Almqvist led the offense to a 68-63 win against Cornell late in the fourth quarter. Overcoming a shooting slump in the first half, the team rallied behind Almqvist to extend their win streak to three, advancing deeper into Ivy play.   
 

WOMEN'S LACROSSE

Seven goals from Brandt not enough as No. 12 Penn women's lacrosse falls to No. 1o Johns Hopkins


In a performance where senior midfielder Anna Brandt was one goal away from tying the program record for goals in a game, the Quakers also fell just short as an overtime miss sealed the game's fate.
 
READ MORE →
GYMNASTICS

Penn gymnastics wins second consecutive Ivy Classic


Year in and year out, Penn gymnastics finds themselves on top. Clinching its second consecutive Ivy championship, Penn once again set a new season-high team score. With the Quakers looking to four-peat at the quickly-approaching Gymnastics East Championship, this victory bodes well for the so-far dominant Red and Blue.
 
Keep catching up on the latest Penn Athletics news →
Photo by Weining Ding

LACROSSE
Crain | Penn men's lacrosse is back on the right track

Former Sports Editor Caleb Crain is confident Penn men's lacrosse is on the right track for Ivy League success following a 2-1 start to the season. After dropping the first game of the season, two rebound performances full of scoring and stout defense seem to bode well for a team looking to conquer the Ancient Eight.
Design by Dana Bahng

SPORTS
Meet the managers: The backbone of your favorite Penn teams

From early practices to late nights watching film, Penn's student managers give their all to support the teams they love. Read here to meet three student managers who spoke with The Daily Pennsylvanian about the ins and outs of their roles on their teams.
 
Photo by Lydia Tong

MEN'S BASKETBALL (7-17, 3-8 Ivy) ended its five-game losing streak with a dominant win over Dartmouth this past Friday, but fell to Harvard in a bittersweet overtime loss on Senior Night the next day. Spinoso clocked in a career-high 24 points to commemorate his last home game. [READ MORE]

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL (14-10, 5-6 Ivy) hopes to play in Ivy Madness after a thrilling win over Cornell this past Saturday. [READ MORE]

MEN'S FENCING (24-7) finished its regular season with a score of 4-1 at the Temple Invitational yesterday, beating the reigning Ivy League champions Princeton 14-13.

WOMEN'S FENCING (21-14) finished its regular season with a score of 2-3 at the Temple Invitational yesterday and looks to begin the postseason on Mar. 8.

GYMNASTICS scored a season-high of 195.375 to become back-to-back Ivy Classic champions. [READ MORE]

NO. 1 MEN'S SQUASH (17-0, 6-0 Ivy) closed out its regular season with a perfect record before winning against Drexel on Thursday. This is the second time the team has accomplished a clean slate in the last five years. They now look to prepare for the CSA National Championship in March.

NO. 7 WOMEN'S SQUASH (13-3, 5-1 Ivy) closed out its regular season with another win over Drexel and now look to prepare for the CSA National Championship in March.

MEN'S SWIMMING AND DIVING (4-6, 1-6 Ivy) continue its preparation for the Ivy League Championships starting Feb. 26 in Rhode Island.

WOMEN'S SWIMMING AND DIVING (8-4, 3-4 Ivy) finished in fifth place at Ivy League Championships, highlighted by newly minted Ivy champion freshman freestyle and butterfly specialist Kayla Fu. 

TRACK AND FIELD concluded its regular season this past Friday, with Kai Eisenhart breaking her own school record in the women's pole vault by jumping through 4.11m (13' 5.75'') and many athletes recording new personal bests.

MEN'S TENNIS (11-3) swept three times this week, winning 7-0 against VCU, 4-0 to Fordham, and 7-0 against Quinnipiac.

WOMEN'S TENNIS (4-5) lost 1-6 in its match against No. 20 Central Florida.

MEN'S LACROSSE (2-1) won 10-2 in a decisive match against University of Delaware on Saturday. 

WOMEN'S LACROSSE (1-1) lost in overtime in a close game against Johns Hopkins. [READ MORE]

WRESTLING (10-6, 4-1 Ivy) concluded its normal season at the Franklin and Marshall Invitational, winning four individual titles. 

SOFTBALL (1-5) lost to both Delaware and Virginia at the Mizuno Classic.

STAT OF THE WEEK: At Ivy championships, freshman Kayla Fu won her first Ivy title in the 100 freestyle in a time of 48.61, beating Princeton's Sabrina Johnston by three-hundredths of a second. 
                                                                                                     READ THE LATEST →
Stay tuned for coverage on thedp.com and on Instagram, @dailypennsports.

FEB. 26 - MAR. 1
Men's swimming @ Ivy League Championships
 

FEB. 28
Baseball @ Troy
 

FEB. 28
Women's basketball @ Dartmouth

 
Today's newsletter was copy edited by Jessica Huang.
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