Wingate, N.C.--- Wingate University junior attack Paulena Dempsey (Jarrettsville, Md.) and junior midfielder Brittany Andrews (Bel Air, Md.) scored five goals each to lead the Bulldog offense as WU overcame a three-goal deficit with 10:52 remaining in the contest to earn a 17-15 win over the SCAD Bees in women's lacrosse action on Graham Gill Field at the Irwin Belk Track Complex.

The Bulldogs scored the final five goals of the contest to collect the come-from-behind triumph. Wingate improves to 6-3 overall. SCAD suffers its first loss of the season and fall to 8-1 overall.

"I am proud of our team's effort today," Wingate head coach Caline McHenry Olmsted says. "We showed a lot of heart and hustle, especially towards the end of the game. We need to use this momentum through the rest of our SAC schedule."

The Bulldogs stuck first in the game to take an early 1-0 lead on a tally from sophomore attack Madison LaBarbera (Colchester, Conn.). The Bees then tied the contest up at 1-1 on a goal from freshman defenseman Emma Devereaux (Oyster Bay, N.Y.). The 'Dogs then jumped out to a 3-1 advantage on back-to-back scores from Dempsey.

It was a back-and-forth affair for the majority of the first half of play. The Bees had a 7-6 lead with 6:13 left in the first half until Wingate answered with four unanswered tallies to gain a 10-7 advantage. Paulena Dempsey scored the 10th goal for WU with only one second left in the half. The 'Dogs maintained the 10-7 lead going into the halftime break.

The Bees came out of halftime strong as they answered with four consecutive scores to take an 11-10 lead with 23:10 left in the second half. Wingate then shortly took the lead back on back-to-back tallies of its own to gain a 12-11 advantage with 20:28 remaining in the second half of play.

SCAD added four unanswered goals to take a 15-12 lead with 10:52 remaining in the second half. Coming out of the timeout, the 'Dogs stormed back with four more consecutive tallies to gain a 17-15 advantage with 28 seconds remaining in the contest. The game-winning score was netted by Dempsey on her 34th score of the season.

(Wingate University sports information/sports network student assistant Jackson Kaplan contributed this article. A freshman from Raleigh, Kaplan is a Communication Studies major at Wingate. The former Millbrook High School baseball player is the son of Harrison and Dona Kaplan.)