Box Score SPRINGFIELD, Mass.--Western New England used a strong bench to fuel a historic second-half comeback to defeat crosstown rival Springfield College, 68-63, in non-conference women's basketball action at the Alumni Healthful Living Center field house on Tuesday. The Pride, who are the defending champions in the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference, lose in their season opener, while the Golden Bears improve to 2-1 after their home debut and #Play4Jody Cause game.

Trailing 41-25 at the intermission, the Golden Bears outscored SC 43-22 in the second half and used their bench to overcome a 22-point deficit at 51-29 with 15 minutes and 4 seconds to go in the contest. Sophomores Emily Anderson and Sammie Olson scored all their points in the game of 11 and 10, respectively, during a key 37-12 run over the final 12:14 as Western New England earned its first win in the series since Feb. 6, 2007, and the teams were meeting for the first time since the 2008-09 season. (The Pride lead all-time 12-2).

Springfield's Lexi Windwer and Heather King shared game-high scoring honors with 14 points apiece, and Jaimie Bickelhaupt had a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.

Dina Pitsas scored her only points of the night on a fastbreak lay-up to give SC a seemingly insurmountable 51-29 advantage before a stretch when both teams didn't score a single point for almost 3 minutes.

Western New England began to chip away with a pair of free throws by junior Chelsea Vujs (10 points, 5 rebounds) and four consecutive points by Anderson on two free throws and a lay-up. With the score 51-35 in favor of the Pride at the midway point of the second half, the Golden Bears sophomore Gabby Lavinio drained a 3-pointer from the left wing--her only points of the contest--to cap a 9-0 run and close within 51-38.

After a King lay-in on SC's next possession, Olson made a close shot of her own to spark a WNE 14-0 run to close to 53-52. Sophomore Sammie Battaini (11 points) had five points and Olson, seven, during the stretch.

Then an Olson trey at the top of the key gave WNE its first lead at 55-54 with 3:20 remaining, sending the crowd into a frenzy. Anderson stretched the cushion to 60-54 with a conventional three-point play and lay-in on back-to-back possessions, and the Golden Bears never trailed after Olson's second 3-pointer of the contest.

Springfield College led by double digits for much of the opening 20 minutes, but WNE's bench outscored the Pride

Western New England returns to AHLC action at 5:30 p.m. Thursday against Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts.