GRANVILLE -- Junior Drew Wentzel converted her third penalty kick of the year in the 85th minute to lift the Big Red past DePauw, 1-0, in the semifinal round of the 2016 North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament on Wednesday night at Piper Stadium.

With the victory, Denison secured their ninth berth in the championship game of the NCAC Tournament that will take place on Saturday at top-seeded Wittenberg, who defeated Kenyon, 3-0, in the other semifinal matchup. Saturday's game will mark the third time these two squads have met in the title game with the first two coming in 2006 and 2007.

After a scoreless opening half, play began to pick up as both teams generated legitimate scoring opportunities. In the 59th minute, senior captain Anne Denz blasted a shot from 13 yards out that forced goalie Riley Riordan to punch the ball over the crossbar, setting up the Big Red's first corner kick of the game. Maggie Armstrong nearly capitalized on the set piece, but Riordan corraled Armstrong's header near the right post.

With 25 minutes to play in the period, the Tigers' Ali Grimm tried to slip a pass to one of her teammates in the center of the six-yard box, but junior keeper Jenny Herold came off her line to intercept the pass. Denz continued to lead the offensive charge with another rocket that sailed just over the crossbar. Roughly 11 minutes later, the senior captain delivered a beautiful pass to classmate Jacquie Graham in the center of the field. Graham found herself one-on-one with Riordan, but her chip shot went right of the goal.

Graham had another crack at the game's first goal in the 82nd minute when she uncorked a shot from 25 yards out. However, Riordan made a nice diving stop near the left post to keep it a scoreless match. With 5:53 left in regulation, Denison was awarded a penalty kick after Graham drew a foul deep in the 18-yard box. That foul set the stage for Wentzel who improved to a perfect 3-for-3 this season in penalty kick attempts.

The Tigers had one last chance to tie the game when they received a corner kick inside the final five minutes. Armstrong cleared out the initial delivery. Gail Enright was able to settle the ball headed out by Armstrong and unload a shot that went well over the goal.

The Big Red outshot DePauw 15-9, including a 12-4 advantage in the second half. Denison committed twice as many fouls (8-4) and held a slight 3-2 edge in corner kicks. Herold registered one save en route to her seventh shutout of the season, while Riordan had seven stops.

Denison moves to 9-5-4 on the year, while DePauw ends its season with a 9-7-1 record. The Big Red will be back in action this Saturday when they travel to Springfield, Ohio for the NCAC Tournament Championship match. Kickoff for Saturday's title game is 7 p.m.