Earlier this week, I asked which of Penn's slumping basketball teams would snap its season-long skid first?

Well, folks, we have an answer.

The women's basketball team defeated St. Francis, 52-48, at the Palestra, making the Quakers 1-9 and infinitely better than the men. Mike McLaughlin, the winningest coach in the NCAA, finally picked up his first Division I victory. Kim Adams, a dismal 1-for-15 on Tuesday, led the Quakers with 17 points, while Jerin Smith posted 12 rebounds. Given the state of Penn hoops, perhaps this should rank as one of the top moments of 2009.

As for the men? They got "demolished" (Penn Athletics'  word) at Duke, losing 114-55. It was the worst loss in Penn's history.

And here's to wishing everyone a happy and healthy new year.

That makes nine straight to start the year for women's basketball, after Tuesday's 68-40 loss to Mount St. Mary's at the Palestra. The Quakers shot just 17.9 percent in the first half and 26.7 percent overall.

Take out Caitlin Slover and they were 12-for-51 from the field, 1-for-7 from three-point land and 7-for-12 from the line.

Kim Adams shot 1-for-15. That is not a typo. It is, however, 6.67 percent.

So the question has to be asked: Which team will win first? Jerome Allen's men? Or poor Mike McLaughlin's women?

The rough year for Penn's basketball programs has been well-documented, but come midnight, the Quakers will reach a new mark of futility: It will be the latest ever that both hoops programs are winless.

With today's 65-51 loss to Navy, the women are 0-7, while Glen Miller's squad is 0-5.

Now, just nine years ago, Fran Dunphy's Quakers (who ultimately tied for second in the 2000-01 Ivy League standings, by the way) began the year 0-8, and in 1995-96, the women lost their first -- count 'em -- 22 games. So individually, the record books are far away, although first-year W. Hoops coach Mike McLaughlin -- the winngest coach in the NCAA -- must be frustrated and confused.

Collectively, though, the Quakers are entering uncharted territory. In the 40 years since the Penn's women's basketball program began, both squads have never been searching for their first win as late as Dec. 7. The season used to start later, too, which makes this even more remarkable.

So which team will win first? The men face Albany at the Palestra on Tuesday, then travel to the seemingly beatable Monmouth next Saturday; the women host rider next Saturday in their only game until after Christmas.

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Food for thought: Our dear friend Pat Knapp, now an assistant with the University of Hawaii (and wearing oh-so-appropriate digs for the new gig), is 3-5 so far. Maybe he wasn't wasting his time after all.

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I would also like to officially congratulate Noah and Zach on the good job they have done both on this blog and with the print edition of The Daily Pennsylvanian. They have begun the transition to next year's editors, who will be formally announced shortly.

The Ivy League Preseason Women's Basketball Media/SID poll was officially released today. I've covered Penn for the past two years, so this year I was given the honor of having Penn's media vote (over women's basketball guru Mel Greenberg).

Apparently, I did a pretty good job -- or I was engaging in groupthink -- because my rankings matched the final results. Below are the results of the 16 votes (one media and one SID vote per school), with first-place votes in parentheses.

Pts.

1. Dartmouth (11) 123

2. Harvard (5) 115

3. Princeton 86

4. Columbia 83

5-t. Cornell 57

5-t. Yale 57

7. Penn 36

8. Brown 19

I thought it would be a useful exercise for discussion purposes to release my votes, and the reasoning behind them. So follow along after the jump for my breakdown.

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Pat Knapp -- the former Penn women's basketball coach of much wit but not enough wins -- has signed on as an assistant with the University of Hawaii.

"He will provide an increased geography base in the recruiting department as he is well respected on the East Coast," first-year coach Dana Takahara-Dias told the Honolulu Advertiser. "He comes with skills that can help us off the bat."

Penn decided in March not to renew Knapp's contract. In his five years at the helm, the Quakers were 48-90 (.348) overall and 28-42 (.400) in the Ivy League. Athletic Director Steve Bilsky said in a press release at the time that "We are disappointed that we did not attain the levels of success we anticipated." Knapp declined comment upon his departure.

Still, Knapp's latest stop comes as a bit as a surprise. No doubt the weather is beautiful down in the Aloha State. But Knapp was a head coach for 26 seasons, including 18 at Georgetown. He won two Big East championships and was the 1992-93 Big East Coach of the Year.

Now he'll be sitting second-chair to someone with no collegiate coaching experience. And, at least to my knowledge, Hawaii is not a step up on the ladder. The school was 300th in last year's year-end RPI rankings -- 20 spots below Knapp's 9-19 Quakers.

Meanwhile, the Penn program -- now led by Mike McLaughlin -- announced its 2009-10 schedule today.

Knapp is set to begin his new job on Monday.

(HT: Brandon Moyse)

Women's basketball coach Pat Knapp was never one to stay mum (well, except when his anger forced him to resort to hand-written statements, or when it came to possibly revealing any strategy).

But when I finally got a hold of him this afternoon -- two-plus weeks after the Athletic Department announced that his contract would not be renewed -- Knapp had no desire to speak. After I introduced myself, he immediately replied, in one breath:

"I'm sorry, I have no interest in talking, thank you very much (click)."

This from a man who guaranteed victory, then backed off; who cited Einstein and rocket science; and who invoked "Yes we can" well before Barack Obama took center stage.

Knapp didn't like the past. But we do, so after the jump, here are some of the best Knapp quotes of the last three seasons, to honor his silent departure.

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