NEW YORK, NY – The women's basketball team battled St. Joseph's Brooklyn in an HVWAC conference game Thursday night, and nearly came out with the win. The Lady Macs led by as much as 7 and held a 2 point halftime lead, but were unable to hold on the rest of the way. The win moved St. Joe's to 3-2, while Yeshiva drops to 0-6.

Both teams came out of the gate slow, with the Bears building and early 5 point lead and Yeshiva tying it at 5 with 13:20 remaining. Scoring would pick up right away, as the teams traded baskets over the next four minutes. After the game's 7th tie at 6:14, the Maccabees went on a 7-0 run, with 5 of those points coming from Avigail Varnai on a long range shot and two free throws. The Bears would close the half with an 8-3 run to pull within 34-32 of the Macs.

Yeshiva stayed right with St. Joe's in the opening minutes of the second half, as the teams went back and forth and were tied for the 9th time (39-39) at 17:05 remaining. Mercedes Cohen hit a jumper to give the Macs a one point advantage a minute later, but that would be their final lead. The Bears controlled the game and pushed their lead to as much as 11, before Shir Fuchs hit a 3-pointer with 23 seconds remaining which ended the game at 74-66.

Fuchs led all scorers with 23 points, connecting on 4-8 from behind the arc and a perfect 5-5 from the free throw line. Avigail Varnai scored 16 as the game's second highest scorer. She also assisted on 6 makes. Lauren Kempin recorded a double-double with 14 points and 15 rebounds, followed by Haley David with 10 points. Naomi Gofine pulled down 10 rebounds.

The Macs will be participating in the Medgar Evers tournament this weekend, first playing Southern Vermont on Saturday at 8PM, and then playing either Medgar Evers for New Rochelle in the consolation/championship game on Sunday. Game time for Sunday will be either 2PM or 4PM.