The Bear Facts

St. Joseph’s return home, following a week-long layover for Thanksgiving, for a meeting with Yeshiva in just their second Skyline contest of the campaign. They look to find the win column for the first time this season after dropping the opening four games. Last Tuesday, SJC fell to borough foes Brooklyn College as rookie Grace Kennedy led the Bears with 14 points in 11 minutes of action.

Senior Kelly O’Donnell turned in a double-double on 12 points and as many rebounds while Emma Kiley’s 13 rounded out a Bears’ trio in double figures against the Bulldogs. Alexis Breen collected seven caroms and dished out as many dimes. Jamie Provino also pulled six boards of her own.

Breen’s 5.2 assists per game place her behind Mount Saint Vincent’s Amber Been for second in the conference and her 21 total dimes are good for third. Shooting 24-of-31 from the line, O’Donnell leads the Skyline in made free throws. She cracks the conference top five in points per game (16.5) and total rebounds (46) while coming in third in rebounds per game (11.5). 

Behind a career-high 40 points from O’Donnell, the Bears got the better of the Maccabees in their February 2020 matchup.

Mac Musings 

Yeshiva enters tonight’s matchup with SJC Brooklyn at 2-4, 1-4 in conference play. Following a 14-point victory over Lehman, the Maccabees dropped their next four games – all to Skyline opposition – before earning a 57-51 triumph against Purchase last Tuesday from Throggs Neck.

Shai Rahamim led the way against the Panthers as she dropped 18 points, shooting 5-of-8 from beyond the arc, and forced four steals. Daniella Rothman, the team’s leading rebounder at 11.7 boards per game, pulled 14 on Tuesday to go with her 11 points. Rothman also leads YU with 11 blocks. Junior guard Yuval Nitzan dropped 10 points last Tuesday while dishing out seven assists, forcing three steals, and blocking a pair of shots.

Scoring in double figures in all but one game, Nitzan’s 15.7 points per game leads the team and is good for sixth in the Skyline while her 26 assists and 19 takeaways place her second and third, respectively. Averaging 35 minutes in six games on the year, the Hod Hasharon, Israel product has also shot an efficient 73.9% from the charity stripe. Rahamim trails Nitzan in assists (15) and steals (11). Rothman comes in third in those categories having dropped six dimes and logging 10 steals.