NEW YORK – The Yeshiva University women's basketball team suffered a hard-fought Skyline Conference loss to St. Joseph's University Long Island, 68-58, at Nat Holman Gymnasium on Tuesday evening. As a result, Yeshiva's final regular season game against College of Mount Saint Vincent, at Peter Jay Sharp Center, on Saturday evening will determine who will make it to the Skyline Conference Championships.

The New No. 1 Scorer in Yeshiva Women's Basketball Program History: Senior guard Yuval Nitzan scored 13 points during the evening and as a result, she is now No. 1 on the Yeshiva University Women's Basketball All-Time Scoring List. She now has 1,160 career points. Nitzan surpasses Michal Alge ('19) who scored 1,159 points in her career. Nitzan tied and then went ahead of Alge thanks to back-to-back free throws with 12 seconds remaining in the game.

"I'm honored and proud to become the YU all-time leading scorer," Nitzan said. "These four years were and still are the best years of my life. I couldn't be more happier to do what I love. I've been playing basketball since I was young and reaching this milestone means a lot to me. I also want to say that I wouldn't be able to do it without my teammates and coaches from my freshman year until today, and of course my family in Israel that watch every game. They all have supported me throughout this journey. The next milestone is to make the playoffs for the first time. Let's do it!"

For the game, Nitzan led all players with seven assists, while grabbing five rebounds and forcing two steals.

Game Summary: The Maccabees (10-11, 7-10 Skyline) kept pace with the Golden Eagles (14-8, 12-5 Skyline) throughout the first half, but St. Joseph's finished the second quarter with five unanswered points, thanks to a 3-point shot and a layup from rookie guard Emma Kelly, to give the visiting team a 30-22 hold after 20 minutes of play.

The Maccabees trailed by 12 in the third quarter, but then a pair of free throws from senior forward Daniella Rothman sparked 11 unanswered points by the Maccabees, highlighted by a traditional three-point play from junior guard Daniella Bessler and capped off by a layup from sophomore guard Abigail Koenig to pull the Blue and White to within one, at 38-37, with 4:29 left in the third.

After the Golden Eagles went back up by three, the Maccabees finished the stanza with six unanswered points, capped off by a pair of free throws courtesy of Nitzan with 45 seconds left to give the Macs a 43-40 advantage heading into the final period of regulation time.

After St. Joseph's tied the game, Nitzan countered with a triple to put the Maccabees back in front, 46-43. After a Golden Eagles' free throw, Bessler grabbed an offensive rebound on the other end and executed a successful putback to extend Yeshiva's lead to 48-44 with 7:30 to go. St. Joseph's Long Island snatched the momentum back by scoring the next nine points, concluded by a shot from downtown by senior guard Julianna Knice, to give the road team a 53-48 benefit with 5:54 left.

Junior guard Shai Rahamim gave Yeshiva hope as her triple pulled YU to within two, at 53-51, with 5:20 to go. A couple of possessions later, SJLI went back up by four. Then, Nitzan drew a foul, while attempting a 3-point basket and earned a trip to the charity stripe for three free throw opportunities. She nailed all three of them to narrow the Golden Eagles' lead to 55-54 with 3:56 remaining in regulation time.

From that point on, St. Joseph's took over the game with seven straight points, in a span of 1:46, to take a commanding 62-54 hold with 1:42 to go. St. Joseph's eventually ballooned its vantage to 12 with 24 ticks left. Twelve seconds later, Nitzan drew a foul and then hit the two historic free throws that put her in a tie and then the No. 1 spot on YU's All-Time Scoring List.

St. Joseph's ended up securing the conference victory.

For Yeshiva: Bessler tallied a double-double with a game-high 22 points and 13 rebounds, while blocking two shots and forcing a pair of steals. Rothman produced eight points and seven rebounds, while Rahamim generated five points, six rebounds, four assists, and two steals. Koenig had six points, three rebounds, and just as many steals off the bench. Senior forward Gabrielle Kupferman brought down seven rebounds and scored four points.

For St. Joseph's Long Island: Senior guard Alyssa Adomaites produced 19 points. Knice recorded 17 points and eight rebounds. Junior guard Lanyah Ford had a near double-double with 13 points and nine rebounds. First-year guard Megan Spina led all players with 14 rebounds.

Up Next: Yeshiva and Mount Saint Vincent will battle it out in the regular season finale on Saturday night to determine which team will make it to the Skyline Conference Championships. Tipoff at Peter Jay Sharp Center is set for 8:30 p.m. Yeshiva aims to make it to the Skyline Postseason for the first time in program history. More information regarding fan buses and coverage links will be provided in the coming days.