SPRINGFIELD, Mass. â€" It was “Senior Day” at Western New England College, but junior guard Jen Dabrowski (Plainville, CT) took center stage scoring a season high 32 points in a dramatic 56-54 victory over visiting Emerson College in a key Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) women's basketball contest Saturday afternoon (Feb. 10) at the Alumni Healthful Living Center.

This was the seventh consecutive win for the Golden Bears (12-10) who raised their conference mark to 6-2 while keeping its home playoff hopes alive. Western New England College has three road league games left next week before the GNAC Tournament begins on February 21.

Before the game, the College honored forwards Sharon Simoncelli (Litchfield, CT) and Vicky Taylor (Feeding Hills, MA) and guards Christine Aldrich (Montpelier, VT) and Jenna Cullen (East Haddam, CT) who were making their final regular season home game appearances.

The four seniors may have another opportunity to step onto the AHLC hardwood after Dabrowski came through with the second highest scoring total of her career. She made 13-of-19 shots from the field (including 2-for-4 three-pointers) and all four of her free throws. Her career high is 33 points against Emmanuel last March in the semifinals of the ECAC Division III New England Championship.

Senior forward Pam Coppola (Burlington, MA), who came into the game averaging 4.7 points, led Emerson with 16 points (8-for-11 from the field), six rebounds, four blocks, four steals, and three assists in a sensational performance. Sophomore guard Maude Okrah (Rutland, MA) contributed 15 points and had two steals.

It was a hard-fought battle the entire game.

Emerson (13-9, 5-4 GNAC) took a couple of early five-point leads before Western New England College used an 11-0 run for a 20-14 advantage at the 8:47 mark of the opening stanza. The Golden Bears led by seven at 27-20 before the Lions ended the half with a 10-3 run to tie the contest at 30-30.

The visitors twice took four-point leads (the last at 36-32) early in the second half before WNEC went ahead 44-40 following a long three-pointer from the corner by junior guard Tiffany DeRosa (Hamden, CT) with 8:51 remaining in the game. The hosts had another four-point lead (48-44) when Dabrowski hit a jumper with 5:55 left.

Western New England College clung to a pair of one-point leads down the stretch before taking a 56-51 edge after a pair of free throws by Dabrowski with 43.2 seconds remaining.

Sophomore forward Lauren Vassallo (Oxford, CT) drained a three-pointer to bring the Lions within two with 15 seconds remaining.

The Golden Bears missed three free throws in the final 13 seconds to give the Lions a chance to tie or win the game.

Emerson called time-out with 1.2 seconds left, but Okrah couldn’t connect on an off-balance jumper just inside the three-point line at the buzzer to end the heart-stopping contest.