FARMINGDALE, N.Y. – The Yeshiva University women's basketball team earned an impressive Skyline Conference road victory over Farmingdale State College, 77-74, at the Nold Hall Athletic Complex on Sunday afternoon. It's Yeshiva's second Skyline win of the season and third victory overall.

Leading the way for the Maccabees was junior Yuval Nitzan who led all players with a career-high 41 points, while grabbing seven rebounds, distributing four assists, and blocking three shots. The Hod Hasharon native shot 14-for-22 from the field, 5-for-7 from beyond the arc, and 8-for-10 from the charity stripe. Nitzan also hit key free throws during the final minute of the contest to give the Maccabees more breathing room and then eventually the victory. Nitzan's 41 points is the most in a single game in program history during the NCAA era. 

"I'm so proud of the team!" Nitzan said. "I think we played really well both on defense and on offense. It was a big win for us. We showed that we have the potential to beat every team and we're going to have a great season! Happy Hanukkah!"

Junior Daniella Rothman had her fourth double-double of the season with 18 points and 11 rebounds. Sophomore Shai Rahamim netted 14 points, grabbed six boards, and forced three steals.

In the opening quarter, Yeshiva went on a 9-0 run to jump out to a commanding 20-10 advantage with 2:58 remaining in the period. Nitzan opened the run with a 3-point field goal and then capped it off with a pair of free throws. The Rams countered with seven straight points to pull to within three, at 20-17, with 1:38 remaining in the stanza. Rothman got the Maccabees back on track as she nailed a jump shot while being fouled. She hit the free throw to complete the traditional three-point play to extend the Blue and White's lead to six. After Farmingdale pulled to within four, Nitzan had the ball in the closing seconds and successfully executed a jump shot just before the buzzer sounded to extend YU's lead to 25-19 after 10 minutes of play.

Yeshiva was able to build its lead during the majority of the second quarter, as a jump shot by junior Gabrielle Kupferman gave the Maccabees their largest lead of the game, at 38-22, with 3:41 left in the half. The Rams eventually sliced the Macs' benefit to 40-30, but Nitzan once again came up big in the closing seconds by burying a jump shot with six ticks left on the clock to send her team into the intermission with a 42-30 advantage.

Farmingdale came storming out of the gate in the third quarter, scoring the first 11 points of the second half to cut Yeshiva's lead to 42-41 in a blink of an eye. Rothman temporarily disrupted the opposition's momentum by taking a feed from Rahamim and nailing a 3-point field goal to extend YU's benefit to 45-41 with 6:10 left in the third. Both teams exchanged baskets for the remainder of the stanza as the Maccabees took a 58-55 lead into the final period of regulation time.

The Rams eventually came all the way back to tie the game at 63 points apiece with 5:58 to go. Rahamim connected on a layup and then a 3-point field goal in back-to-back possessions to help the Maccabees regain the lead, 68-63. Farmingdale countered with five straight points, capped off by a traditional three-point play by freshman Layla Mendoza to tie the game at 68 points apiece.

Later on, with the game tied at 71 with 1:11 to play in regulation, Nitzan buried a clutch 3-point basket to give the Maccabees the lead once again. After rookie Samantha Muller hit a free throw to cut the Macs' lead to two, Nitzan countered with a free throw of her own to put YU back up by three, at 75-72, with 15 seconds left in the fourth quarter. Senior Anna Zaborowska got the Rams closer by burying two shots from the charity stripe to decrease Yeshiva's advantage to 75-74 with eight seconds to go. Nitzan was intentionally fouled and sent to the free throw line where she drained both free throw attempts to extend the Maccabees' lead to 77-74. Farmingdale had one more chance to tie the game, but Yeshiva's strong defense did not allow the opposition to get a shot off before the buzzer and YU went on to earn the key conference win, 77-74.

"Today we learned how to win close games," Yeshiva University Head Coach Bill Zatulskis said. "Everyone contributes and we can be a tough team to beat."

For the Maccabees, Kupferman had four points and eight rebounds, while junior Renee Benjamini grabbed seven boards. Senior Miriam Kazlow dished out five assists and snatched three rebounds.

For the Rams, Mendoza had 37 points and seven rebounds. Muller and Zaborowska each had a double-double with the former producing 15 points with 14 rebounds and the latter recording 14 points and 10 caroms, as well as forcing five steals.

Yeshiva will host SUNY Old Westbury, in a Skyline matchup on the campus of Manhattan College, on Tuesday evening. Tip-off is scheduled for 8:00 p.m.