NEW YORK – The Yeshiva University women's basketball team suffered a Skyline Conference loss to the United States Merchant Marine Academy, 83-50, at ARC Arena on Wednesday evening. The loss snaps YU's (5-7, 4-6 Skyline) two-game winning stretch.

Merchant Marine (9-1, 5-1 Skyline) jumped out to a 6-0 advantage and never looked back, as the Mariners led from wire-to-wire on their way to the conference victory.

Leading the way for the Maccabees was senior guard Yuval Nitzan who had a double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds, while dishing out six assists and forcing a steal. Classmate Daniella Rothman netted 10 points, delivered four assists, snatched three boards, blocked a shot, and forced a steal. Senior forward Gabrielle Kupferman also scored 10 points, while bringing down four boards and forcing a steal. Rookie guard Abigail Koenig scored nine points, grabbed a pair of caroms, and registered two assists.

Yeshiva fell behind, 11-4, in the early stages of the contest but responded with a 7-3 run, capped off by a triple from Nitzan, to narrow the Macs' disadvantage to 16-11 with 3:45 remaining in the opening period. After Merchant Marine extended its lead to 18-11, Yeshiva was able to pull even closer as Rothman received a feed from Nitzan and converted a layup, while being bumped. She added the shot from the charity stripe to complete the traditional three-point play and narrow the YU's deficit to 18-14 with 2:20 left to play in the opening quarter.  

Merchant Marine buried a triple to go back up by seven, but Nitzan answered with a successful downtown shot of her own to pull Yeshiva to within four, at 21-17, with 1:48 remaining in the quarter. The Mariners began to pull away by scoring the final six points of the period to take a 27-17 hold after 10 minutes of play.

Down by 10 just over a minute into the second stanza, Koenig drained a 3-point basket to narrow Yeshiva's hole to 29-22. However, Merchant Marine countered with an 8-2 run to take a commanding 37-24 benefit with 4:48 left to play in the half. USMMA increased its lead to 20 before taking a 46-28 hold into the intermission.

The Mariners outscored the Maccabees, 25-5, in the third quarter to put the game away.

For Yeshiva during the evening, rookie guard Mia Denti grabbed five rebounds. Senior guard Nina Yurovsky scored two points and brought down a board. Second-year guard Yael Dannenbaum forced a steal.

For Merchant Marine, senior center Lauren Hunter had a double-double with 26 points and 12 rebounds. Sophomore guard Abby Stramski tallied 19 points, six assists, and four rebounds. Sophomore guard Kaira Winston had a game-high eight assists to go along with six points, three rebounds, and a pair of steals.

Yeshiva will return from its break on Thursday, January 19, with a matchup against Berkeley College N.Y. Tipoff at Nat Holman Gymnasium is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.