The Berkeley College women's basketball team dropped a home game on Thursday evening, falling to the Maccabees of Yeshiva University by a score of 63-45. The game took place at the Nat Holman Gymnasium, on the campus of the City College of New York. With the defeat, the Knights dipped to 1-15 on the 2022-2023 campaign, while Yeshiva improved to 6-7.

 

Despite the loss for Berkeley, the Knights were paced by Amal Mahmoud, as she put forth a tremendous effort, connecting on six of her 13 attempts from the floor, and six of her eight opportunities at the foul line, to finish with a team-high 18 points. She also registered team-highs of 13 rebounds, four steals, and three dimes. Cherokee Wheeler added seven points, seven rebounds, and three steals, and Zanya Henderson netted four points, grabbed six boards, tallied four steals, and swatted a game-high four shots.

 

In the victory for the Maccabees, Yeshiva was led by Shai Rahamim, as she scored a game-high 21 points on 7-for-13 shooting from the field, and 4-for-7 from beyond the arc. She also swiped a game-high six steals while collecting four rebounds. grabbed four rebounds. Yuval Nitzan netted 12 points, recorded six assists, snatched four boards, and collected three steals. Daniella Bessler finalized her evening with 11 points, six rebounds, four assists, and three steals, and finally, it was Daniella Rothman producing eight points, a game-high 14 rebounds, and two swatted shots.

 

Things looked promising for the Knights in the early stages of the contest, as Berkeley raced out to a 6-0 lead in the opening 3:53 thanks to a converted jumper from Wheeler, a pair of freebees by Dixon, and a made layup by Mahmoud. Yeshiva's Rahamim was then fouled while attempting to shoot a trifecta and was awarded three shots from the charity stripe. She converted on all three free throws to make it 6-3 Berkeley with 5:23 remaining in the first period.

 

With the Knights later leading 8-6, Berkeley put together a 7-2 run to increase its lead to 15-8, before a Yeshiva bucket in the final seconds of the quarter made it 15-10 Knights after one period.

 

The Maccabees scored the first six points of the second quarter to catapult to a 16-15 edge. Bessler began the run with a layup, and concluded it with a pair of free throws that gave the Yeshiva its first lead of the non-conference clash. The Knights responded with a 6-2 run (featuring a Shania Smith bucket, a pair of converted free throws apiece by Dixon and Mia Lashley) to go back ahead by a score of 21-18.

 

Yeshiva closed out the first half strong by scoring the final seven points in the half. That 7-0 spurt included a converted layup by Rothman, a made jumper by Gabrielle Kupferman, and a fastbreak layup by Rahamim.

 

Nitzan opened the third quarter by draining a shot from long range to increased Yeshiva University's lead to seven, 28-21, just nine seconds in. The Knights responded with a 6-2 run to slice the Maccabees' edge to three. Yeshiva's Jasmin Maly-Danker then drained a shot from downtown to put Yeshiva up 33-27 with 4:46 to go in the third quarter. 

 

Berkeley gained the momentum right back by going on a 8-1 run to retake the lead, 35-34, with 2:06 to go. That run included a converted three-point bucket by Wheeler, a made layup by Smith, and a triple by Lashley. After Yeshiva's Nitzan hit with a trifecta to put the Maccabees back in front, Mahmoud converted on a layup, while also drawing a foul. She would proceed to hit the freebee to give Berkeley the advantage again, 38-37, with 1:26 to go. That aforementioned score would remain the same as time expired on the third period.

 

Koenig scored the first bucket of the fourth quarter to put Yeshiva ahead, 39-38. After the Knights evened the score at 39-apiece with a free throw, Yeshiva snatched the momentum of the contest by scoring seven consecutive points to take a 46-39 lead with 7:14 left to play. 

 

The Knights did keep things close, slicing the Maccabees' edge to five a couple of times, but then Rahamim highlighted a 13-0 Yeshiva University spurt by connecting on three shots from downtown in a span of 2:56 to push Yeshiva's advantage to 18, 61-43, with 2:45 remaining. Yeshiva would maintain that 18-point lead the rest of the way, eventually advancing for a 63-45 victory.

 

Neither team shot well from the floor, with Yeshiva connecting on just 32.4 percent of its attempts for the evening (24-74), while the Knights had a 27.1 percent conversion rate (16-59). The Maccabees held a 55-44 edge on the glass, while also dishing 14 assists compared to eight for the hosts. Yeshiva netted 25 points off of turnovers, while Berkeley totaled 22, and Yeshiva narrowly won the turnover battle, committing 20 miscues compared to 24 for the hosts.

 

The Knights return to action this weekend, Berkeley will take another trip, heading to Clinton College for a 7:30pm contest on Saturday, before turning around the following day to take on Johnson & Wales (NC) at 1:00pm.