FARMINGDALE, N.Y. – The Yeshiva University women's basketball team earned an impressive Skyline road victory on Sunday afternoon, defeating SUNY Old Westbury by a score of 75-70 at the Nold Hall Athletic Complex. Yeshiva advances to 7-12 overall and 5-12 in Skyline play. Old Westbury drops to 7-12 for the season and 6-11 against league competition. The Macs earn the season sweep over the Panthers.

With the score tied at 70, junior Yuval Nitzan buried a 3-point basket with 42 ticks left in regulation to give the Maccabees the lead for good. YU's defense shutdown Old Westbury the rest of the way to help clinch the victory.

"We played with tenacity on defense and sharing the ball on offense," Yeshiva University Head Coach Bill Zatulskis said. "It's tough to stop us when we get balanced scoring."

Four Yeshiva players reached double figures in points. Nitzan finished the game with 15 points, six rebounds, just as many assists, and two blocked shots. Rookie Daniella Bessler just missed a double-double with 16 points and nine rebounds, while distributing four assists. Junior Daniella Rothman had 15 points, seven rebounds, and three assists, while sophomore Shai Rahamim netted 13 points, forced a game-high six steals, had four assists, and snatched two boards.

After an even first quarter, the Maccabees finished the second stanza strong. Rahamim took a feed from Bessler and drained a triple to give the Maccabees their largest lead of the opening period, at 33-26, with 47 seconds to go in the half. Junior Ja'nya Flash connected on a jumper with 20 seconds left to narrow YU's advantage to 33-28 and that would be the score after 20 minutes of play.

The Maccabees came storming out of the gate in the third quarter, as Nitzan found Rahamim who drilled another shot from downtown to cap off a 5-0 YU run and put the Blue and White up by a score of 40-33 with 5:53 to go in the stanza. However, Old Westbury countered with nine unanswered points, concluding with a 3-point field goal by junior Cherish Francis, to propel the home team to a 42-40 benefit with 4:23 left to play in the third period.

Once again, the Maccabees finished a quarter strong. Down 49-48, Nitzan drilled a shot from beyond the arc to put Yeshiva back up by two, with 1:19 remaining. Fast forward to two seconds left in the stanza, and Yeshiva nursing a 53-52 advantage, Rahamim once again connected on a shot from beyond the arc to give the Maccabees a four-point cushion heading into the final period of regulation time.

The Macs got off to a strong start in the fourth quarter, as a free throw by Nitzan gave her team its largest lead of the afternoon, at 66-58, with 5:59 left to play. After the Panthers pulled to within five, Bessler drained a 3-point basket to extend YU's hold to 69-61 with 4:01 left. However, the Panthers came storming back by going on a 9-1 run. The blitz concluded with a layup from Francis that tied the game at 70 points apiece with 48 seconds to go in the fourth quarter.

With the Maccabees in possession of the ball, Bessler found Nitzan who shot the ball from beyond the arc and swished it into the basket to give the Macs a 73-70 advantage with just 42 ticks left. Yeshiva then came up strong on defense by forcing an Old Westbury turnover with 29 seconds remaining. The Panthers had no choice but to intentionally foul the Maccabees. Junior Gabrielle Kupferman and Nitzan each converted a free throw in the closing seconds to ice the game and help secure an impressive conference victory for the Maccabees.

For YU, Kupferman had eight points and three rebounds. Junior Renee Benjamini tallied six points and three boards. Sophomore Kira Elbaum had two points, a rebound, and a steal, while graduate student Miriam Kazlow dished out an assist.

For Old Westbury, Flash had a double-double with 23 points and 12 rebounds, while distributing three assists, blocking three shots, and forcing a steal. Francis had 22 points, four boards, and just as many steals. Sophomore Melinda Harris tallied 14 points, eight rebounds, and a pair of assists.

Yeshiva will battle College of Mount Saint Vincent, at the Peter Jay Sharp Center, on Tuesday evening. Tipoff is scheduled for 6:00 p.m.