Delaware, Ohio - Second-seed DePauw held off fifth-seed Wittenberg in a defensive battle and captured its ninth North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament title with a 46-44 victory.

DePauw improved to 20-6 with the win and earned its 24th NCAA postseason berth, while Wittenberg finished the season at 18-10. The Division III bracket will be announced at 2:30 p.m. on Monday, March 3, in NCAA.com. DePauw has won each of its nine NCAC Tournament championship game contests.

Wittenberg opened the game on an 8-0 run and kept DePauw off the scoreboard until Olivia Hart's bucket with 6:34 left in the opening period. The lead reached nine on a couple of occasions with the last coming at 13-4, but DePauw scored the final eight points of the stanza to trim the deficit to 13-12.

Moira McGinley's 3-pointer with 7:29 left in the half gave DePauw the lead and she added a free throw at the 4:09 mark, but those were the only points scored in the quarter until Ainsley Boras knocked in two free throws with 1:20 remaining.

Wittenberg's only points came with 50 seconds left and DePauw took an 18-15 lead into the second half.

DePauw scored eight straight late in the third to extend the lead to 35-24 before Wittenberg closed it to 35-26 as the teams headed to the final period.

Hart scored on the opening possession of the fourth, but Wittenberg quickly scored 10 straight to cut the DePauw lead to 37-36 with 6:49 left.

Ava Hassel responded with a three, but Wittenberg put together an 8-2 stretch capped by Karsen Karlblom's jumper with 2:01 left which gave Wittenberg a 44-42 lead.

Hassel again answered with a trey 19 seconds later to put DePauw ahead, 45-44.

DePauw got a defensive stop, but couldn't convert on two attempts and Wittenberg regained possession with 32 seconds left. Wittenberg missed and Hart grabbed the rebound. Following a timeout, Hart was fouled and hit one-of-two free throws to extend DePauw's lead to 46-44 with 17 seconds remaining.

Wittenberg was able to get off a shot before the buzzer sounded, but Hart snagged the rebound to seal the win.

Hart was selected the Nan Nichols Award recipient as the tournament MVP, while Hassel was also named to the all-tournament team. Joining them on the team were Isabella Caceres (Hiram), Macy Miller (Ohio Wesleyan), Riane Burton (Wittenberg) and Karlblom (Wittenberg).

Hart led DePauw with 11 points and a career-high 18 rebounds, while Hassel followed with 10 points. Lyla Barr also established a career high with 12 rebounds. Tori Allen dished out three assists in the win.

Karlblom scored 11 for Wittenberg, with Burton snagging seven rebounds and Taryn Cash dishing out four assists.

DePauw shot 25.0 percent from the field to Wittenberg's 29.6 percent, but DePauw held a 61-29 rebounding edge.