Greencastle, Ind. - Third-ranked DePauw held Denison scoreless over the final five-plus minutes and finished on a 13-0 run to capture its seventh North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament title in nine seasons with a 66-47 win over Big Red in the championship game. The Tigers moved to 27-1 overall with their 23rd straight win, while Denison finished the season at 19-9.
With the tournament title, DePauw earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championship and will compete in the postseason for the 21st time including its 17th consecutive. The Tigers learn of their opening-round opponent and the site of the first two rounds on Monday at 2:30 with the selection show airing on NCAA.com.
The Tigers got out to a quick 9-2 lead with tournament MVP Sydney Kopp scoring the first bucket and all-tournament team selection Claire Keefe the next seven capped by a 3-pointer. The lead reached as many as eight in the first quarter and DePauw took a 17-12 advantage into the second.
Denison closed to within one on three occasions, but DePauw pushed the halftime lead to 33-27. The Big Red were still within three at 35-32, before Hayley Cange hit the second of two free throws and the Tigers took advantage of a couple of Denison misses as Kopp converted a three-point play and Cange a layup to make it 41-32 with 5:40 left in the third.
The Big Red trimmed the gap back to five, but Kopp hit a bucket and Mya Shannon completed a three-point play to extend the lead to double digits for the first time at 46-36 with 2:18 left in the third. The Tigers took a 48-42 lead into the quarter break and the margin was still six at 53-47 after a free throw from Denison's Shonta Lockett with 5:35 remaining in the game. Those were Denison's last points as the Tigers finished on a 13-0 run with nine points from Kopp and four from Cange.
Three Tigers posted double-doubles as Kopp finished with 28 points and a career-high 17 rebounds, while Keefe added 19 points and 10 rebounds with Cange totaling 11 points and 12 boards.
Alison Schafer paced Denison with nine points and Lauren Longbrake grabbed seven rebounds.
The Tigers shot 41.7 percent for the game to Denison's 32.1 percent with the Big Red hitting 7 of 19 from beyond and DePauw just 1 of 16. DePauw held a 49-28 rebounding edge for a 23-5 advantage in second-chance points.
Joining Kopp and Keefe on the all-tournament team were Zyah Beal and Alison Schafer of Denison, Nicole Popovich of Ohio Wesleyan and Wittenberg's Korynne Berner,.