GREENCASTLE, Ind. — For the third time in the 2011-12 season, nationally ranked DePauw wore down the Wittenberg women's basketball team, this time securing a berth in the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) Tournament championship game with a 69-52 victory.

The host Tigers, currently No. 4 nationally and No. 1 in the Great Lakes Region, improved to 25-1 overall after winning their first regular season title as a member of the NCAC with a perfect 16-0 record. DePauw put three players in double figures among 10 different individuals who scored in the game to advance to Saturday's tourney title match against second-seeded Denison.

Wittenberg, seeded fifth in the tournament, bowed out of the 2011-12 season with records of 14-12 overall and 9-7 in the conference.

The host Tigers raced out to a 7-0 lead to start the game, but the visiting Tigers rallied to eventually tie the game at 20-20 with 4:14 to go in the first half. DePauw responded with a 10-2 run to close the opening 20 minutes, and in the second half the host Tigers slowly expanded their advantage to as many as 19 points.

Wittenberg was paced by freshman Katelyn Haralamos (Maineville, Ohio/Kings), who finished with 13 points and four steals, and freshman Enri Small (Columbus, Ohio/Columbus School for Girls), who added 11 points, four rebounds and three steals. Senior Sarah Watson (Hudson, Ohio/Hudson) rounded out her career with a nine-point performance, while senior Lyndsey Clark (New Carlisle, Ohio/Tecumseh) chipped in with six points, eight rebounds and three assists in her final game in the Red & White.

DePauw was paced by 16 points from Ali Ross and a double-double from Katie Aldrich. The host Tigers shot 46 percent from the field and won the rebounding battle 37-30. Wittenberg shot a respectable 37 percent from the floor, altough the visiting Tigers were limited to 5-of-21 shooting from three-point range.