NEW YORK – The Yeshiva University women's basketball team surged to victory in its Skyline opener against Sarah Lawrence College, 78-65, at ARC Arena on Thursday evening.

The key stretch of the game for the Maccabees (1-1, 1-0 Skyline) was an 8-0 run to close out the first half, capped off by a 3-point field goal from senior Yuval Nitzan with 14 ticks left on the clock, to allow YU to take a five-point lead into the break after trailing by two with just over two minutes left before the intermission. Then, the Macs finished off the contest on a 10-1 run to clinch the league win.

"The team played a complete game," Yeshiva University Head Coach Bill Zatulskis said. "Everyone contributed and when we play like that, we are tough to beat."

Leading the way for the Maccabees during the evening was Nitzan, who scored a game-high 21 points, grabbed nine rebounds, dished out just as many assists, forced four steals, and had a pair of blocks.

Senior Daniella Rothman had a monster game by producing a double-double, with 18 points and a game-best 20 rebounds, while forcing seven steals, and distributing three assists. The Woodmere native drained all six of her free throw attempts. Junior Shai Rahamim produced 17 points, on 8-for-15 shooting, delivered four assists, brought down two boards, and forced just as many steals.

Freshman Abigail Koenig had a solid performance with 12 points, five rebounds, three assists, and just as many steals. Senior Gabrielle Kupferman had eight points, 10 rebounds, four assists, and three blocks. Rookie Mia Denti tallied two points and two rebounds.

The Maccabees got off to a strong start as a layup by Koenig put the home team up, 6-0, just over two minutes into the contest. Later in the stanza, Koenig drained a triple to put her team up, 11-4, with 5:48 left to play in the opening period.

However, Sarah Lawrence tilted momentum into its favor by going on a 10-2 run, capped off by a layup from junior Kendall Haymore, to put the Gryphons in front, 14-13, with 2:03 left to play in the period. Sarah Lawrence managed to go into the second quarter with an 18-16 advantage.

In the beginning of the second stanza, sophomore Kumi Tamura buried a triple to give the Gryphons their largest lead of the evening, 21-16, just 1:16 into the stanza. The Maccabees responded with a 10-2 run to regain the advantage. Concluding the run was Rahamim converting a layup, while being fouled. She buried the free throw to complete the traditional three-point play to give the Macs a 26-23 benefit with 6:33 left to play in the half.

A few minutes later, Sarah Lawrence scored five unanswered points, concluding with a 3-point field goal by rookie Colleen Coughlin to put the Gryphons up by two, 33-31, with 3:21 left before the break.

Yeshiva was able to turn it around and finish the half strong. After a pair of free throws from both Nitzan and Rothman gave the Macs a 35-33 edge, both teams were held scoreless for almost a full minute. Yeshiva had the ball in the closing seconds and Nitzan took a feed from Rahamim and drained a jump shot from beyond the arc to inflate YU's lead to 38-33 with 14 seconds left. That would be the score at the break.

Yeshiva was up by three in the early stages of the third quarter. However, Nitzan gave the Maccabees a lift again by executing a layup, while being fouled. She nailed the free throw afterwards to increase the Macs' lead to 45-39 with 6:45 remaining in the stanza.

Later in the period, Yeshiva went on a 7-0 run to take a commanding 54-43 benefit with 3:36 to go. After the Gryphons cut the Macs' lead to seven, the Blue and White scored the last four points, capped off by a layup from Nitzan with 13 seconds left, to put Yeshiva up, 58-47.

The Maccabees padded its benefit to 15 in the early stages of the fourth quarter. However, the Gryphons stormed back with a 17-6 run to cut YU's lead to four, at 68-64, with 3:55 to go. YU maintained its composure and began to regain control of play as a layup courtesy of Rahamim sparked a 10-1 game-closing run by the Macs that secured them the Skyline-opening victory, 78-65.

Yeshiva will continue Skyline play at St. Joseph's University Long Island on Sunday. Tipoff at Danzi Center is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.