Yeshiva Cannot Keep Fourth Quarter Lead as Alge Closes In on School Record

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PATCHOGUE, N.Y. – The Yeshiva University women's basketball team suffered a hard-fought Skyline loss to St. Joseph's Long Island, 72-66, at the Danzi Center on Thursday evening.

Yeshiva (4-17, 2-13 Skyline) had a three-point lead in the early stages of the fourth quarter, but St. Joseph's Long Island (8-13, 5-9 Skyline) rallied to earn the conference win.

Senior forward Michal Alge produced a double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds, including seven boards on the offensive end. She is now one rebound away from tying Rebecca Yoshor's ('14) program record of 831 career rebounds.

Junior guard Nicole Bick tied a career-high with 31 points, while grabbing five rebounds, distributing four assists, and forcing just as many steals. Freshman forward Celia Cohen just missed a double-double with nine points and 10 rebounds, while delivering two assists.

Yeshiva fell behind by as many as seven in the opening quarter. However, back-to-back layups by Bick propelled the Maccabees to a 5-0 run to pull the visiting team to within two, at 19-17, with 16 seconds remaining. St. Joseph's increased its lead to 21-17 and that would be the score at the end of one. 

The Golden Eagles led by as many as 10 in the second, and went into the locker rooms with a 38-29 advantage.

Bick scored the first five points of the third quarter to pull her team to within four, at 38-34. St. Joseph's would eventually build its lead back up to eight, at 46-38, with 5:29 remaining in the period. The Maccabees would not go down without a fight, scoring 11 unanswered points in a span of 1:14. To cap off the run, Bick received a feed from Cohen and drilled a 3-point field goal to give Yeshiva the lead, 49-48, with 3:10 to go in the third.

After the Golden Eagles regained the advantage, Bick drilled another shot from beyond the arc to put Yeshiva back in front, 52-50. With the game tied, freshman forward Lindsay Brandwein hit a jumper to give YU the lead again, 54-52, with 42 ticks left in the period. Lindsey McKenna responded with a layup to even the game, 54-54, and that would be the score heading into the fourth.

After drawing a foul, Alge hit two shots from the charity stripe to give Yeshiva the advantage, 56-54, just over a minute into the fourth quarter. Cohen added a free throw to increase YU's lead to three, at 57-54, with 8:28 remaining in regulation time. St. Joseph's answered by scoring four unanswered points to take a one-point lead. A free throw by Alge tied the game, 58-58, with 4:34 remaining.

Later in the period, Jennifer Gubell hit a 3-point field goal to give the home team a 61-58 lead, with 3:49 left in regulation. A few possessions later, Bick found Alge who successfully executed a jump shot to narrow the deficit to one, at 61-60, with 3:23 left to play in the fourth. N'Dea Maddox answered with a 3-pointer to increase the Golden Eagles' lead to 64-60, with 3:01 left to play. Yeshiva could not generate another run for the remainder of the game, as St. Joseph's went on to earn the Skyline win, 72-66.

For the game, sophomore guard Laura Betesh scored five points, with three assists, and a game-high five steals. Brandwein added four points to go along with four rebounds and two assists, while freshman guard Chana Boltax hit a 3-point field goal. Freshman guard Leah Shulman produced two points, dished out just as many assists, and forced three steals. Senior forward Chavi Charlap grabbed two caroms, while junior guard Penny Rabin forced a steal.

For the Golden Eagles, Andrea Iavarone produced a double-double with 21 points and 24 rebounds, while dishing out four assists, blocking two shots, and forcing just as many steals.

Yeshiva will host Skyline rival Mount Saint Vincent on Sunday, at Riesenberg Gymnasium, beginning at 12:00 p.m. Alge will have the chance to set a new program record for most career rebounds.