PURCHASE, N.Y. – The Yeshiva University women's basketball team returned to action on Thursday evening by earning an impressive Skyline road victory over Purchase College, 73-62, at Purchase College Gymnasium. The Maccabees advance to 6-7 overall and 4-7 in conference play. The Panthers drop to 1-14 for the season and 1-11 in league contests.

Rookie Daniella Bessler had a strong performance for the Maccabees in her collegiate debut, leading all players with 26 points on 11-for-21 shooting from the field. The Brookline native also brought down nine rebounds, forced five steals, dished out four assists, and had one block. "I'm really proud to be part of a team that supports and pushes each other," Bessler said. "We worked hard tonight and I'm confident we will end the rest of the season strong."

Junior Daniella Rothman helped the Maccabees by securing her eighth double-double of the season with 17 points and 16 rebounds, while converting eight out of her 12 shot attempts. Teammate Yuval Nitzan had a solid game by netting 12 points, gathering a game-high eight steals, grabbing seven boards, and dishing out four assists.

"It was a good team win after a month layoff," Yeshiva University Head Coach Bill Zatulskis said. "We got contributions from everyone. Welcome to the Skyline Conference where every team challenges each other. Great effort by the Maccabees!"

The first half was a back and forth affair as there were nine lead changes during the opening 20 minutes of the contest. However, Yeshiva never trailed in the second half and outscored Purchase, 25-17, during the final 10 minutes of play to help secure the conference victory.

The Macs fell behind in the late stages of the second quarter as a 3-point field goal by sophomore Ariella Johnson gave the Panthers a 29-22 hold with 3:16 remaining until the half. From that point on, the Maccabees took over as a successful jump shot by junior Gabrielle Kupferman began a 10-0 YU run. During Yeshiva's game-altering blitz, rookie Kira Elbaum converted a layup that put the Maccabees in front, 30-29. Rothman capped off the Macs' stretch of 10 unanswered points by grabbing an offensive rebound and providing the putback to extend the Blue and White's benefit to 32-29 with 34 ticks remaining in the opening half. Johnson ended Purchase's slump by nailing a free throw with three seconds left to send both teams into the locker room with the score 32-30 in favor of the Maccabees.

With the score tied at 34 points apiece in the early portion of the third quarter, Kupferman nailed back-to-back jumpers to put Yeshiva in the lead for good, at 38-34, with 6:41 to go in the stanza. Bessler continued YU's momentum by converting two consecutive layups to pad Yeshiva's hold to 42-34. Later in the third quarter, sophomore Shai Rahamim drained a shot from deep to inflate Yeshiva's lead to 46-36 with 3:31 remaining. The Panthers would not go down without a fight as they went on a 9-2 run in the final 3:10 of the period to shrink YU's lead to 48-45 heading into the final quarter of regulation time.

The Panthers opened the scoring in the fourth to pull to within one. Yeshiva answered by scoring eight straight points, which concluded with a pair of free throws from Bessler, to extend the Blue and White's advantage to 56-47 with 6:50 remaining. After Purchase sliced its deficit to 56-51, Rothman countered with back-to-back jumpers to increase YU's cushion to 60-51 with 4:48 left to play. Yeshiva steadily inflated its lead during the next several minutes as a pair of free throws from junior Renee Benjamini equaled Yeshiva's largest advantage of the evening, at 70-56, with 33 seconds to go. The Maccabees ended up securing the Skyline road victory by a score of 73-62.

For the Macs, Kupferman had eight points and three rebounds. Rahamim generated four points, four steals, and a pair of assists. Elbaum forced a steal in her collegiate debut, while Benjamini added a steal of her own.

For the Panthers, Johnson had a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds, while delivering five assists and forcing three steals. Senior Miya Ritchie had a team-high 18 points, brought down four boards, and snatched just as many steals.

Yeshiva will host Manhattanville College, at the Peter Jay Sharp Center, on Sunday afternoon. The Skyline clash will begin at 2:00 p.m.