NEW YORK, N.Y. – The Yeshiva University women's basketball team had a thrilling second half rally, but it was not enough as the Maccabees fell to Purchase College in Skyline play, 67-53, at the ARC Arena on Thursday evening. It was the first completed conference contest for both teams.
The Maccabees (2-2, 0-1 Skyline) were down by 14, 7:41 into the contest, but rallied to eventually take the lead in the fourth quarter. Purchase (2-3, 1-0 Skyline) was able to regain the advantage and earn the win. Sparking Yeshiva's surge was senior forward Simee Rosner, who scored 24 points and had a career-high 26 rebounds. Junior forward Michal Alge also produced a double-double, scoring 14 points and tying her career-high with 22 boards.
Purchase dominated the first quarter by jumping out to an 18-4 advantage. Yeshiva would pull closer, as a jump shot by Alge pulled Yeshiva to within 20-9, and that would be the score after one period of play.
In the second stanza, the Maccabees scored the first six points, highlighted by Rosner's tip-in to shrink the Panthers' lead to 20-15, with 8:04 left in the first half. Purchase was able to shift momentum into its favor by outscoring YU 12 -7 for the remainder of the half, as the visiting team took a 32-22 lead into intermission.
For the second quarter in a row, Yeshiva started off with a 6-0 run, highlighted by Alge stealing the ball and feeding it to Rosner who laid it up and in. After Purchase regained a six-point lead, at 40-34, Rosner converted layups on back-to-back offensive possessions. Alge's layup capped off another 6-0 run by Yeshiva, as the home team tied the game at 40, with 3:14 left in the third quarter. The Panthers then scored five unanswered points, but Rosner's layup pulled Yeshiva to within 45-43.
In the fourth quarter, Yeshiva once again started off strong. After Rosner's layup tied the game, senior forward Tess Blaustein connected on a three-point field goal to give the Maccabees their first lead since the opening minute of the game, 48-45, with 8:35 remaining in regulation time. The Panthers scored the next four points to regain the lead, but a successful jumper by Rosner put Yeshiva back in front, with less than six minutes left.
With the score 51-50 in favor of Purchase, Blaustein found Rosner who laid it up and in to make it 52-51 Yeshiva, with 5:19 remaining in regulation time. From that point on, Purchase took over the game by scoring 11 unanswered points to take a commanding 62-52 lead with 2:01 left to play. The Panthers went on to win the Skyline contest, 67-53, thanks to a 16-1 run to end the game.
For the evening, Blaustein just missed a double-double with nine points and 11 rebounds. Alge dished out five assists and had just as many steals, while Rosner recorded four dimes. Senior guard Tzipora Leiser added four points with two steals, while sophomore guard Avigayil Wiener produced two points and had just as many steals. Junior guard Andrea Weiss forced four steals, while sophomore guard Penny Rabin had one rebound and one steal.
The Maccabees will be back in action on Sunday, for a Skyline Conference contest at Farmingdale State, beginning at 12:00 p.m.