NEW YORK – The Yeshiva University women's basketball team opened the 2022-23 season with a strong performance, but just fell short to Baruch College, 62-60, at ARC Arena on Wednesday evening.

Yeshiva (0-1) trailed 60-57 in the closing seconds, but a clutch 3-point field goal by junior Shai Rahamim evened the game up with six ticks left on the clock. However, junior Kristina Arvello of Baruch (1-0) drew a foul on the next possession and went to the line with two seconds remaining. She drained both shots to give the Bearcats the two-point advantage. Yeshiva did not have enough time for a clean opportunity at the basket and Baruch went on to earn the hard-fought season-opening victory.

Leading the way for the Maccabees was senior Yuval Nitzan who netted 21 points, grabbed nine rebounds, dished out six assists, and forced three steals. Rahamim added 20 points with three assists, two rebounds, and just as many steals. Senior Daniella Rothman led all players with 18 rebounds, had three blocks, forced just as many steals, and scored three points.

With 15 ticks left in the first quarter, senior Gabrielle Kupferman took a feed from Nitzan and converted a layup to give the Maccabees a 14-13 edge and that would be the score after 10 minutes of play.

YU dominated the second quarter, outscoring Baruch by a 20-11 margin to take a 34-24 benefit heading into the intermission. Rahamim helped close the opening half strong for Yeshiva by draining back-to-back 3-point field goals in the quarter's final 69 seconds to give the Macs a 10-point cushion at the break.

Yeshiva led by as many as 12 in the third quarter, but a 10-1 run by Baruch, capped off by a 3-point field goal courtesy of sophomore Elissa Leung off a steal she forced, shrunk YU's lead to 37-34 with 4:50 left to play in the stanza.  Later in the quarter, Baruch managed to pull to within two, but a free throw by Nitzan, and then a layup by rookie Jasmin Maly-Danker, inflated YU's lead to 44-39 with 44 seconds left. Each team exchanged a basket from inside the arc to close out the quarter and the Maccabees took a five-point advantage into the final period of regulation time.

The Bearcats scored the first five points of the fourth quarter to tie the game at 46. YU and Baruch kept exchanging runs throughout the final stanza. With 42 seconds to go, and the game tied at 55, Arvelo converted a layup to give Baruch a two-point edge. On Baruch's next possession, sophomore Mia Castillo added a free throw to put YU in a 58-55 hole with 26 seconds remaining. Nitzan quickly drove to the basket and converted a layup with 17 ticks left on the clock to pull the Macs to within one. Yeshiva intentionally fouled Leung, with 16 seconds left, and she drained both shots from the charity stripe to pad Baruch's lead to 60-57.

That set the stage for Rahamim's big-time 3-point shot to tie the game with six seconds remaining. However, Arvelo ended up hitting the game-winning free throws with two seconds left to propel the Bearcats to the thrilling season-opening victory.

For the Maccabees, newcomers Abigail Koenig and Maly-Danker had solid collegiate debuts with six points and five rebounds each. Kupferman tallied four points, three boards, and just as many steals. Rookie Mia Dente brought down a rebound.

For the Bearcats, Arvelo had a strong game with 32 points, eight rebounds, and three assists. Freshman D'Andre McRae had eight points, 17 rebounds, and four steals.

Yeshiva will open up Skyline Conference play, on Tuesday, at Purchase College. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.