NEW YORK, N.Y. – The Yeshiva University women's basketball team suffered a hard-fought loss to Baruch College, 74-66, at the ARC Arena on Monday evening. The host Bearcats advance to 1-1, while the Maccabees drop to 1-1.

Leading the way for the Maccabees was sophomore forward Tehilla Teigman, who produced a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds. Senior forward Michal Alge had a balanced game with 15 points, seven boards, three steals, and two assists. Senior guard Nicole Bickscored 13 points, tied a game-high with four assists, brought down five caroms, and forced three steals.

The Bearcats jumped out to a 15-6 lead with just under two minutes to play in the opening quarter. Alge pulled Yeshiva closer in the final minute by converting a layup. The period ended with Baruch leading 15-8.

The Maccabees got off to a strong start in the second stanza, by scoring the first 10 points to take the lead. Sophomore forward Celia Cohen started Yeshiva's rally by snatching an offensive rebound and tilted the ball into the net to pull Yeshiva to within five. Later in the run, with Yeshiva down by one, sophomore forward Lindsay Brandwein clutched an offensive board and successfully converted the putback basket to give YU a 16-15 lead with 8:00 to play before the half. Brandwein capped off YU's 12-0 run by nailing a jump shot off a feed from Alge to extend Yeshiva's lead to 18-15, with 6:51 left.

Baruch would counter with back-to-back 3-point field goals to put the home team back up by three. That would spark a 16-4 run by Baruch, which included four three-point field goals, to give the Bearcats a 31-22 advantage with less than two minutes to play in the half. Yeshiva would chip away at Baruch's lead, as a layup by Brandwein with 33 ticks on the clock sent the Maccabees to the locker rooms down by just six, at 33-27.

YU stormed out of the gate in the second half, as Bick was able to lay the ball up and in to narrow Baruch's lead to 33-30. However, the Bearcats recovered and went on a run to go back up by eight, at 44-36.

The Maccabees would not go down without a fight, as Teigman successfully converted a layup while being fouled. She nailed the shot from the charity stripe to pull Yeshiva to within five, at 44-39, with 3:42 left to play in the third quarter. On Yeshiva's next offensive possession, Bick threw the ball to Teigman who put the ball up and in off a fast break to shrink Baruch's lead to 44-41.

With less than two minutes to go in the third, a combination of Alge's layup and a free throw by Teigman pulled Yeshiva to within two, at 46-44. Baruch answered by finishing the quarter with four unanswered points to go back up by six.

The Bearcats steadily increased its lead for the majority of the fourth, going up by as many as 12. The Maccabees had one more rally in them as a 3-point field goal by sophomore guard Leah Shulman capped off a 5-0 run to narrow Baruch's lead to 73-66, with 34 seconds to go. However, Baruch added one more free throw and went on to earn the non-conference win, 74-66.

For the evening, Brandwein had eight points, grabbed six rebounds, and distributed three assists. Cohen brought down 10 boards and six points, while sophomore guard Adina Rosenberg and freshman forward Elizabeth Pavel each scored two points and snatched two caroms. Sophomore guard Chana Boltax grabbed three rebounds and dished out an assist, while senior guard Penny Rabin had a pair of rebounds of her own.

For Baruch, sophomore guard Melinda Spahiu had a double-double with 26 points and 12 rebounds, while freshman guard Samantha Genco scored a career-high 23 points. First-year guard Valsenia Michie produced a double-double with 11 points and just as many boards.

Yeshiva will host The King's College N.Y., in the home opener at the ARC Arena, on Thursday evening. Tip-off is slated for 8:00 p.m.