PATCHOGUE, N.Y. – The Yeshiva University women's basketball team suffered a heartbreaking Skyline loss to St. Joseph's College Long Island, 62-61, at the Danzi Center on Sunday afternoon.
The Maccabees trailed by as many as nine points in the game but rallied to take the lead in the late stages of the fourth quarter. The Maccabees were up by two, at 61-59, with 24 seconds remaining. However, senior guard Alicia Indence nailed the go-ahead 3-point field goal with six ticks on the clock, to give the Golden Eagles a one-point lead. Yeshiva had one more chance to win the game, but St. Joseph's defense prevented the Macs from scoring, as the home team went on to earn its second Skyline victory of the season.
With the loss, Yeshiva falls to 3-7 in the conference (6-10 overall) and trails Farmingdale State by a full game for the sixth and final playoff spot in the Skyline standings. St. Joseph's Long Island advances to 2-9 in conference contests (3-15 overall).
Leading the way for the Maccabees was senior forward Michal Alge, who produced a double-double with 17 points and a game-high 20 rebounds. Junior forward Tehilla Teigman also produced a double-double with 16 points and 10 boards, while forcing a pair of steals. Sophomore guard Chana Boltax scored 11 points, including three 3-point field goals, and clutched three caroms.
Yeshiva fell behind by a score of 9-4, in the opening quarter. Alge capped off a 6-0 YU run with a layup to put her team up, 10-9. Later in the stanza, Teigman successfully converted a layup to allow Yeshiva to regain the lead at 12-11, with 1:31 remaining in the period. St. Joseph's outscored YU, 5-2, for the remainder of the quarter and had a 16-14 advantage after 10 minutes of play.
Boltax drained a 3-point field goal to put YU in front, 19-18, with 6:30 remaining before the half. The Golden Eagles countered with eight unanswered points to jump back out in front, 26-19, with just over four minutes left until intermission. The home team built a nine-point lead with 13 ticks left on the clock. However, Boltax gave Yeshiva a lift by taking a feed from sophomore forward Celia Cohen and draining a shot from beyond the arc, with two seconds to spare, to pull her team to within six (32-26) at the break.
The Maccabees narrowed the deficit in the third quarter, as Alge converted a layup while being fouled. She added the shot from the charity stripe to complete the traditional three-point play to pull YU to within two, at 36-34, with 6:42 left in the period. Later in the stanza, freshman forward Elizabeth Pavel received a pass from Boltax and successfully converted a layup to tie the game, 36-36. St. Joseph's Long Island once again tilted momentum into its favor by outscoring Yeshiva, 10-5, during the last 3:54 of the third and took a 46-41 lead into the final regulation period.
In the fourth, Yeshiva trailed by as many as eight points. However, the Blue and White rallied with a 10-2 run to tie the game, 51-51, with 4:38 left to play. Boltax capped off the run with a 3-point shot that tied the contest. The home team scored four straight points to regain the lead, but YU countered with a 6-0 run to jump out in front, 57-55, with 2:40 remaining. Teigman gave Yeshiva the lead by forcing a steal and converting a layup off a fast break.
With 1:27 left to play, and the score tied, Alge grabbed an offensive rebound and put the ball into the hoop, while being fouled. She added a successful free throw shot to put YU up, 60-57, with 1:23 remaining in regulation time. Freshman guard Alyssa Signor countered with a layup to pull the Golden Eagles to within one, with 52 ticks left on the clock. Alge was intentionally fouled and hit a free throw with 24 seconds left to play, to give YU a narrow 61-59 advantage.
St. Joseph's Long Island had possession of the ball. Signor missed a layup, but the ball went out of bounds off Yeshiva with nine seconds to go. Junior guard Laura Falacara received the inbounds pass and fed the ball to Indence, who successfully executed a shot from beyond the arc with six ticks left on the clock to give the home team a one-point lead. After Yeshiva called a timeout, the Macs had one last chance to win the game. Alge drove to the basket but her layup attempt would not go through. The buzzer sounded, and the Golden Eagles were victorious.
For the game, sophomore guard Leah Shulman drained three shots from beyond the arc, while distributing a pair of assists. Pavel had a solid game with four points and seven rebounds. Cohen and sophomore forward Lindsay Brandwein each scored two points with the former bringing down four rebounds, dishing out two assists, blocking a shot, and forcing a steal. The latter grabbed two caroms and blocked one shot.
For St. Joseph's Long Island, Signore led all players with 22 points and four steals, while Indence added 12 points and three rebounds. Falacara produced 15 points, while junior guard Juliana Cintron-Leonardo just missed a double-double with nine points and 14 rebounds.
Yeshiva will return to the friendly confines of the Nat Holman Gymnasium on Tuesday, for a Skyline matchup against Mount Saint Mary College, beginning at 8:00 p.m.