The Yeshiva University women’s basketball team earned a historical Skyline win over Purchase College, 65-53, at the Purchase College gymnasium on Sunday afternoon. This was the first Skyline win for the Maccabees since rejoining the Skyline Conference in 2015. The Maccabees previously played in the Skyline from 2007-2011.
“I am very proud of this team,” Yeshiva University head coach, Michael Alon, said. “They fought hard all year and deserve this moment.”
Yeshiva (3-17, 1-14 Skyline) led from wire-to-wire. Early in the game, junior forward Michal Alge received a feed from senior forward Tess Blaustein and laid the ball up and in, to put the Maccabees up 7-0, with 5:54 left in the opening quarter. Alge nailed two free throws with one second left to give YU a 14-8 advantage at the end of the quarter.
The Maccabees remained in control during the second period. Freshman guard Laura Betesh nailed a jump shot to extend YU’s lead to 24-15, with 3:16 left in the half. The defense of Yeshiva held Purchase (2-19, 1-15 Skyline) to just four points in the last 4:17, as the Macs went into the half with a 24-17 lead.
After the Panthers pulled to within three in the third, the Maccabees responded by scoring six unanswered points, capped off by a layup from senior forward Simee Rosener, to put YU up 33-24 with 4:23 left in the stanza. With less than a minute remaining, Blaustein drilled a three-point field goal to give the visiting team a ten-point advantage, at 44-34. That would be the score at the end of three quarters of play.
Blaustein opened the fourth with a successful jump shot to extend the Macs’ lead to 12. Later in the stanza, Betesh converted a layup to give the Maccabees their largest lead of the game, at 63-47, with 2:03 left to play. Yeshiva went on to earn the historical Skyline win, 65-53.
For the game, Alge produced her 12th double-double of the season with a game-high 23 points and a career-high 24 rebounds. Rosner produced a double-double of her own with 16 points and 14 rebounds. Betesh scored 12 points, with four assists, and two steals. Blaustein and Leiser each scored seven points, with the former dishing out a game-high eight assists. Senior forward Gavriela Colton forced three steals, while sophomore guard Avigayil Wiener and classmate Penny Rabin brought down two boards each. Junior guard Andrea Weiss grabbed one rebound and produced an assist.
By yumacs.com
