WILLIMANTIC, Conn. -- The top-seeded Eastern Connecticut State University women's basketball team won back-to-back Little East Conference championships for the first time in program history, defeating No. 6 seed Massachusetts Boston, 64-56, Saturday afternoon at Francis E. Geissler Gymnasium.

Eastern (22-6)  senior forward Jill Ritrosky (Pittsfield, MA) led all players with 20 points Saturday en route to tournament MVP honors. Ritrosky had 17 points and 14 rebounds in the 67-51 win over No. 5 Masachusetts Dartmouth.

Junior guard Jordyn Nappi (Southington), last year's tournament MVP, had 16 points and senior forward Erin Brooks (Billerica, MA) 11. Junior guard Julia DePoi (Brookfield) grabbed eight rebounds to go along with nine points. DePoi sat out most of the first half with two personal fouls. Nappi became the 17th player in program history to score 1,000 points early in the fourth quarter.

Sophomore guard Grace Geary, the prominent player in UMB's two earlier tournament wins over higher-seeded opponents, led the Beacons with 18 points, senior forward Olivia Murphy adding 11 points and a game-high eight rebounds. Sophomore guard Chantel Jordan  had ten points and five rebounds.

Boston (16-12)  led throughout much of the first half before the Warriors rallied for a 27-26 halftime lead. The Warriors carried a one-point lead into the final quarter and broke the sixth and final tie when Ritrosky converted an inside bucket off her own offensive rebounds, Nappi sank a jumper off a UMB turnover, and Ritrosky swished two free throws following another UMass turnover to make it 58-52 with just under four minutes left.

Eastern gains an automatic NCAA tournament berth with the victory. Its first-round opponent will be determined Monday.