NEWBURGH, N.Y. – The Yeshiva University women's basketball team suffered a hard-fought Skyline Conference loss to Mount Saint Mary College, 72-55, at the Kaplan Center on Wednesday evening. The Knights advance to 15-1 in Skyline play and 17-4 for the season, while the Maccabees drop to 3-11 in the conference and 6-13 overall.

Leading the way for the Maccabees was freshman guard Yuval Nitzan, who scored 24 points, while grabbing five rebounds and dishing out a pair of assists.

Yeshiva stayed in the game through three quarters, but first-place Mount Saint Mary was able to pull away in the final stanza.

"Strong effort by our team," Yeshiva University Head Coach Michael Alon said. "Everybody on our team contributed."

The Knights came storming out of the gate, knocking down three shots from beyond the arc to take a commanding 9-2 advantage, just 1:42 into the contest. The Maccabees rallied later in the quarter, as Nitzan's jump shot capped off an 8-2 run to pull YU to within three, at 21-18, with 41 ticks left in the period. On the next possession, junior forward Morina Bojka answered with a jumper of her own to extend the Knights' lead to five, and that would be the score after 10 minutes of play.

Yeshiva fell behind, 29-22, in the second quarter but once again rallied. Sophomore forward Mahlia Leventhal began the run by grabbing an offensive rebound and tipping the ball into the basket. On Yeshiva's next possession, senior guard Chana Boltax drained a 3-point field goal to pull the Maccabees to within two, at 29-27, with 4:54 remaining in the half. Yeshiva held first-place Mount Saint Mary scoreless for 2:22 during that stretch.

The Knights were able to finish the stanza strong by outscoring the Maccabees, 11-2, in the final 4:21 of the period to take a 40-29 hold into the intermission.

YU continued not allowing Mount Saint Mary to pull away, during the third quarter. Down by 12, Nitzan was able to nail a jump shot, while being fouled. She capitalized from the charity stripe to complete the traditional three-point play to pull YU to within single-digits, at 45-36. On Yeshiva's next possession, Nitzan dished the ball out to Boltax, who nailed a 3-point field goal to shrink the Knights' lead to 45-39 with 5:13 left in the period. However, the home team finished the quarter on an 8-2 run to go up, 53-41, after 30 minutes of play.

The Knights pulled away in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Maccabees by a 19-14 margin during the final 10 minutes of the contest to secure their 15^th conference win of the season, 72-55.

For the Maccabees, Leventhal generated five points and a game-high nine rebounds. Boltax netted eight points and forced three steals, while junior forward Lindsay Brandwein produced eight points of her own and added five boards. First-year guard Rebecca Malech brought down six rebounds, while sophomore forward Jennie Mellman scored two points and clutched four caroms. Senior guard Chana Weinberg generated two points and a rebound.

For the Knights, senior guard Lyndsay Pace netted 18 points, grabbed seven rebounds, dished out three assists, and forced five steals. Sophomore forward Annie Keenan tallied 17 points with eight boards and four steals.

The Maccabees will continue their mini Skyline road trip on Sunday, with a matchup against Mount Saint Vincent at the Peter Jay Sharp Center, beginning at 6:00 p.m.