Box Score Photos by Erin Winsor '20
LINK TO NCAA SELECTION SHOW (Monday, 2:30 p.m.)
WILLIMANTIC, Conn. -- The top-seeded Eastern Connecticut State University women's basketball team scored the first seven points and led from start to finish in securing its fourth Little East Conference championship in six years with a 49-44 victory over No. 2-seeded Rhode Island College Sunday afternoon at Francis E. Geissler Gymnasium.
With its seventh LEC tournament title in all – and second back-to-back championships in the last six years – Eastern (23-4) qualifies automatically for the NCAA Division III tournament, which gets underway this coming weekend.
Eastern is 4-1 in its last five trips to the final while RIC lost for the first time in three trips to the championship game. The teams were meeting in the final for the first time, with Eastern improving to 10-1 all-time against Rhode Island in 11 LEC tournament meetings.
Rhode Island (22-5), which had beaten Eastern twice by 12-point margins during the regular season– holding the Warriors under 50 points both times -- had a six-game winning streak snapped after losing away from home for only the fourth time in 14 games this year. Ranked eighth in the NCAA New England Region, the Anchorwomen will be considered for an at-large berth to the 64-team NCAA tournament field.
As it had to do in a 57-48 semifinal win over No. 4 UMass Boston Friday, Eastern had to weather a late-game comeback with RIC pressing and forcing turnovers before posting the victory. The Warriors carried an 11-point lead into the final quarter, but Rhode Island opened the fourth by sinking five of seven field goal in a 12-3 run over the first four minutes that pulled it to within two, 44-42.
After RIC squandered a chance to go ahead by missing two shots and turning the ball over once, Eastern sophomore guard Danielle O'Brien (Rockland, MA) found senior forward Mya Villard (Cromwell) for a short jumper, and after RIC missed three shots and turned the ball over twice on its next five possessions, sophomore forward and tournament MVP Anna Barry (Andover) stole a pass, took a return pass from sophomore guard Julie Keckler (Trumbull) and scored to make it 48-42 with 40 second left.
Junior guard Sophia Guerrier sparked RIC back from a nine-point halftime deficit with five steals and seven points in the second half. Although she missed six of seven field goals in the second half, she canned five of six free throws.
O'Brien scored nine of her game-high 15 points with three three-pointers in the second half. She tied her career high with five (of the team's six) three-pointers (on nine attempts) in the game.
Barry had 12 points, eight rebounds, three steals and two blocks and Villard 12 points and five rebounds. Senior guard Lizzy Cretella (Cheshire) led both teams with ten rebounds and Keckler handed out five assists to go along with eight points (5-of-6 FG) and four rebounds.
At right: Sophomore Anna Barry accepts the tournament MVP Award from Little East Commissioner Dr. Pam Samuelson after Sunday's title win over Rhode Isand College. As a freshman, Barry was named tournament MVP in leading the Warriors to the 2018 LEC women's volleyball title.
Eastern, which had been outrebounded by ten in the two regular-season losses to RIC, held a slim 38-32 edge on the boards, with the Anchorwomen managing only ten points off 15 offensive rebounds.
In two tournament wins, Barry averaged 18.5 points (16-of-33 FG) and 8.0 rebounds with six blocks, four assists and three steals. In volleyball, Barry was named tournament MVP as a freshman in leading the Warriors to the tournament championship and was selected LEC Offensive Player-of-the-Year in volleyball this past fall.
In the tournament, O'Brien averaged 13.5 points on 9-of-18 shooting from distance, with four steals, two assists and a block and Villard 9.5 points, and 7.5 rebounds. She was 11-of-15 from the foul line. Keckler averaged 8.5 points (7-of-10 FT) with a team-high eight assists and three steals.
Eastern has won 18 of its last 20, both losses to Rhode Island. It marks the first time after three straight years in which the No. 1 seed was able to prevail over the No. 2 tournament seed in the final.
Freshman guard Maci Dorantes (11 points) came off the bench as RIC's only double-digit scorer, with senior forward Fataya Larry and senior guard Jordyn Gauvin each grabbing six rebounds. In its regular-season sweep of Eastern, Guerrier averaged 14.5 points, Larry 10.5 rebounds and sophomore center Willcia McBorrough 11.0 rebounds.
Averaging 67 points a game this year, RIC equaled its lowest point total of the season.
