NEW YORK – In a thrilling Skyline contest that came down to the final seconds, the Yeshiva University women's basketball suffered a hard-fought loss to St. Joseph's University Brooklyn, 82-78, at ARC Arena on Wednesday evening.

Down to the Wire: Yeshiva was down 78-76 with less than 30 seconds left in the game. Junior guard Daniella Bessler came up big by draining the game-tying jump shot with 20 seconds left in the contest. However, senior center Emma Kiley, of St. Joseph's Brooklyn, drew a foul with 11 seconds to go. She drained both shots from the charity stripe to give the Bears (9-7, 7-5 Skyline) an 80-78 advantage. The Maccabees could not capitalize on a potential game-tying layup attempt and St. Joseph's Brooklyn secured the rebound with two seconds left. The Bears ended up hitting two more key free throws to secure the win.

Impacting the Skyline Standings: The Maccabees drop to 4-7 in league play (7-8 overall) but remain in the sixth and final playoff spot, leading Sarah Lawrence College by a full game. Yeshiva aims to qualify for the Skyline Conference Championships for the first time in program history. St. Joseph's Brooklyn strengthens its hold on the fifth seed.

The Key Stats of the Game: An important factor in the contest was the shooting from deep. St. Joseph's Brooklyn shot 50.0% (13-for-26) from beyond the arc, while Yeshiva only connected on three triples out of 20 attempts (15.0%).  St. Joseph's Brooklyn had the heavy advantage in the rebounding department, 49-37. Yeshiva did have a good shooting night from the floor, going 34-for-72 from the field (47.2%) compared to 30-for-75 shooting by the visiting team (40.0%). However, St. Joseph's Brooklyn grabbed 20 offensive rebounds to overcome its shooting disadvantage.

Leading the Way for the Maccabees: Bessler had a double-double with 22 points and 10 rebounds, shooting 10-for-15 from the field in the process, while dishing out a game-high eight assists, forcing two steals, and blocking a shot. Senior guard Yuval Nitzan also had a productive game with 17 points, 11 rebounds, two steals, and just as many blocks. Classmate Daniella Rothman had a near double-double with 14 points and nine boards. Senior forward Gabrielle Kupferman netted 11 points.

How it Happened: With 3:09 to go in the opening quarter, Rothman grabbed an offensive rebound and tipped the ball into the basket to give the Maccabees a slight 15-14 advantage. However, the Bears finished the first period on 9-2 run to take a 23-17 benefit after 10 minutes of play.

St. Joseph's Brooklyn led by as many seven in the second quarter. Yeshiva chipped away and then had a strong finish to the half. Junior guard Shai Rahamim connected on a jump shot that shrunk YU's deficit to 38-36 with 2:49 to go. After Yeshiva forced a stop, freshman guard Jasmin Maly-Danker capitalized on a jumper of her own to even the game at 38 points apiece. After Nitzan grabbed a defensive board, she threw an outlet pass to Rahamim who converted a fast-break layup to put the Blue and White in front, 40-38, with 1:58 to go until the break. After the Bears tied it at 40, Rahamim put YU back in front with a free throw with 29 seconds left. That would conclude the scoring in the first half as Yeshiva went into the intermission up by a score of 41-40.

The Maccabees got off to a strong start in the second half as two-point baskets by both Rothman and Bessler inflated Yeshiva's vantage to 45-40. After each team exchanged a basket, the Bears drained six triples that sparked a 20-5 run to take a commanding 62-52 hold with 1:49 remaining in the third. The Macs would not go down easily as they fired off off 10 straight points to end the quarter, highlighted by two shots from downtown by Nitzan and capped off by a layup from Rothman with four ticks left on the clock, to even the game at 62 points apiece. That would be the score heading to the final period of regulation time.

After Rothman opened the scoring for the quarter to put the Blue and White in front, the Bears exploded for seven straight points to take a 69-64 benefit with 7:32 left to play. Yeshiva sliced it to one, thanks to back-to-back buckets from Bessler and sophomore guard Abigail Koenig. Later in the stanza, with YU down 71-70, Rothman connected on a clutch jumper to put Yeshiva back in front, 72-71, with 3:07 left to play. Then on the next possession, Koenig connected on a layup to pad YU's lead to 74-71 with 2:31 left to play.

St. Joseph's scored the next four points to go up by one with 1:30 to go. Nitzan answered with a layup to put Yeshiva back in front, 76-75, with 1:14 left to play. A few of possessions later, and St. Joseph's Brooklyn having the ball with 32 seconds left, freshman guard Aaniya Telford connected on a key triple to put the visiting in the lead, 78-76.

Then, Bessler provided her heroics to tie the game at 78 with 20 seconds left. However, Kiley drew the foul on the next possession and drained both important free throw attempts that gave the Bears an 80-78 advantage with 11 ticks left on the clock. Sophomore guard Grace Kennedy then came up big on the defensive end by blocking a game-tying layup attempt and St. Joseph's Brooklyn secured the ball with just a couple of seconds to go. The Bears connected on two more free throw attempts to seal the Skyline victory.

Chipping in for Yeshiva: Rahamim had eight points, four assists, three rebounds, and a pair of steals. Koenig provided four points, a rebound, and a steal. Maly-Danker collected two steals and snatched a board.

For the Bears: Five players reached double figures in scoring for St. Joseph's Brooklyn. Kiley had a double-double with 18 points and 13 rebounds, while dishing out four assists. Junior forward Destiny Hurt provided 13 points and just as many rebounds. Telford provided 13 points and seven assists, while freshman guard Kristen Donovan generated 14 points, five assists, and four boards. Kennedy tallied 17 points, four assists, and three rebounds.

Up Next: Yeshiva will host SUNY Old Westbury, in another Skyline matchup at ARC Arena, on Saturday evening. Tipoff is set for 8:30 p.m. It will be Senior Night as Yeshiva University will be honoring its women's basketball graduating seniors, Nitzan, Rothman, Kupferman, and Nina Yurovsky with a ceremony prior to the start of the game.