NEW YORK, NY - Finishing off the week at the Arc Arena, the Yeshiva women's basketball team fell to St. Joseph's University Long Island, losing to the Golden Eagles by a score of 67-53 on Sunday, Jan. 28.
 
On the offensive end of the ball, the Maccabees saw a pair of stellar performances out of Daniella Bessler and Shai Rahamim, with each putting up a double-digit scoring performance at 21 and 15 points respectively.
 
On top of her attacking output, Bessler also had a stellar day on defense alongside teammate Yuval Nitzan. As Nitzan led the team with five steals while Bessler trailed right behind at four, both players came within three rebounds of a double-double, each snagging seven boards on the afternoon.
 
With the loss, the Macs are now 6-12, 5-9 in conference play.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Both squads came out of the gates swinging, going basket for basket through the first quarter of play. Even as it seemed that SJLI were finally gaining an advantage near the end of the period, going up by four with 23 seconds remaining, a buzzer-beating logo three from Nitzan cut Yeshiva's deficit to just one as the Macs went into the break down 18-17.
   
• Not letting up on the gas pedal, the teams continued to trade blows to kick off the second quarter, seeing the lead change hands four times over five minutes. However, it was then that Yeshiva's attack began to falter, falling behind by as many as five points. By the time the halftime horn sounded, YU went into the locker room trailing 33-28.
   
• Yeshiva's offense carried their struggles into the third quarter, managing only seven points off of buckets from Bessler and Rahamim. However, in their stead, the Maccabee defensive unit stepped up, holding SJLI's white-hot attack to just 10 points over ten minutes, an effort that kept YU within striking distance at 43-35 come the start of the fourth.
   
• Despite their efforts however, Yeshiva simply ran out of gas in the final period. SJLI jumped out to a 22-point lead with four minutes remaining, a margin that proved insurmountable for the YU squad.

 
MAC LEADERS

• Points: Bessler (21), Rahamim (15), Nitzan (8)
• Assists: Bessler (3), Nitzan (3), Rahamim (1), Maly-Danker (1)
• Rebounds: Bessler (7), Nitzan (7), Maly-Danker (5)
• Steals: Nitzan (5), Bessler (4), Maly-Danker (2), Yolkut (2)
• Blocks: Koenig (1)

 
UP NEXT
Taking on their final non-conference opponent of the season, the Macs are set to host Berkeley College on Tue, Jan. 30 at 6:00 PM.