SPRINGFIELD, Mass. â€" The Western New England College women's basketball team made its final home appearance of the season a game to remember.

Sophomore guard Jennifer Dabrowski (Plainville, CT) tied her career high with 26 points and made the winning basket on a lay-up as the buzzer sounded as second-seeded Western New England College rallied for a dramatic 55-54 victory over seventh-seeded Nichols College Wednesday night in a quarterfinal round game of the ECAC Division III New England Championship.

The Golden Bears, who rallied from a 14-point deficit early in the second half, improved their record to 21-6 that set a school record for wins in a season. WNEC also finished undefeated at home with a 12-0 mark.

Nichols led 33-25 at halftime and extended its margin to 42-28 following a basket by senior center Kara Cicchiello (Willimantic, CT) at the 15:31 mark.

Western New England College chipped away at the lead pulling within one at 50-49 and again at 52-51 when Dabrowski made two free throws with 59.2 seconds left.

After a Nichols miss, WNEC called timeout and scored on its next possession when Dabrowski made a lay-up to give the Golden Bears a 53-52 advantage with 13 seconds remaining.

The Bison quickly moved the ball up-court and went ahead 54-53 when freshman guard MaryLynn Skarzenski (Woodbridge, NJ) weaved her way through several defenders and made a lay-up with 7.1 seconds remaining.

Western New England College called another time-out and on the in-bounds play sophomore guard Tiffany DeRosa (Hamden, CT) drove up the left side and fired the ball to Dabrowski who was cutting to the basket. Dabrowski tossed up an off-balance shot that fell in the basket as the final horn sounded.

It was another exciting comeback win for the Golden Bears who have won five of their last 11 games by five or less points.

"We've been in this situation before, so we kept our composure and didn't panic," said Dabrowski.

Senior center Lisa Masella (Newtown, CT) contributed nine points and 12 rebounds for the Golden Bears while junior forward Vicky Taylor (Feeding Hills, MA), playing with a cold, pulled down a game high 13 rebounds.

Nichols had two players finish in double figures, junior guard Stacey Hejwosz (Dudley, MA) who had 18 points and senior forward Heather Clarke (Henniker, NH) with 12 points. The Bison finish its season with a 20-8 record.

Western New England College will play third-seeded Emmanuel (a 73-64 winner over Keene State) at 7:30 p.m. Friday (Mar. 3) in an ECAC semifinal contest in South Hadley.

In other games Wednesday, top-seeded Mount Holyoke defeated eighth-seeded Western Connecticut (63-44) while fourth-seeded Bridgewater State downed fifth-seeded Endicott (75-61). MHC will host Bridgewater State at 5:30 p.m. Friday in the first semifinal game of the evening.

The ECAC Division III New England Tournament championship game will be held at 2:00 p.m. Saturday (Mar. 4) in South Hadley.