MURFREESBORO -- Cascade outscored Middle Tennessee Christian 32-30 in the second half of a frenzied affair and were the recipients of 21 missed free throws. It wouldn't be enough though as a lackluster effort defensively in the second quarter did the Lady Champions in as they fell 67-54 on Tuesday night.

Cascade's Millie Carter tries unsuccessfully to score in the paint. (T-G Photo by Danny Parker) [Click to enlarge]

The visitors were outdone 21-11 in the second frame, trailed 37-22 at intermission and never fully recovered. Cascade (6-12, 1-5 District 9-A) ended the first half saddled with 15 fouls to the Lady Cougars' seven, which were converted into 15 free throws in 23 attempts.

"We were playing hard, we were just reaching too much and not moving our feet," Lady Champion coach Tracy Ferrell said. "The calls didn't go our way. We played through that frustration for the most part.

"That's why they're near the top of the district right now, they take advantage of everything they have. We're just trying to get our girls to believe in themselves more and take advantage of what we're good at."

Conversely, Cascade was 3-for-5 at the charity stripe in the initial 16 minutes.

The deficit didn't appear to weigh heavy on the minds of Ferrell's ladies as a swarming press to open the third quarter left the taller Middle Tennessee Christian girls reeling. The guard-heavy Lady Champs ended the frame with an 11-3 run to chop their deficit down to eight.

"We forced them into taking some quick shots," Ferrell said.

Shelby Nelson's 3-point play with 6:49 left in the game narrowed the gap further to 51-45.

First-half demons caught up with Cascade as three contributors fouled out in a four-minute span and they left themselves shorthanded with 3:41 to play.

The Lady Cougars (14-5, 5-1) smelt blood in the water and went over the top of the press with long passes time and time again to quickly boost their advantage back out to double figures.

"We missed some shots we shouldn't have missed," Ferrell said. "We had some odd combinations. At times we were playing with two freshman and three sophomores on the floor. We were pretty young tonight but that's no excuse. We've got to get the job done."

Katie Mullins (30) comes down with a rebound for the Lady Cougars in front of teammate Katie McKnight. (T-G Photo by Danny Parker) [Click to enlarge]

A pair of points by Brooke Littrell pulled the Lady Champs to within 63-54 with 1:39 left, but her team didn't score again.

"My subs did a pretty good job tonight," Ferrell said. "We had to go pretty deep with the foul trouble."

Middle Tennessee Christian's Katie Dunn led all scorers with 28 points, including 7-of-11 free throws. Amy Mullins tallied 11 and Lindsey Lee 10.

Tiffany Gibbs paced Cascade with 14 points. Nelson finished with 13.

The Lady Champs get a week off before heading to Chapel Hill on Tuesday to battle defending Class A state champion and district-leading Forrest.

"We're going to work on ourselves right now, watch some video, get rested," Ferrell said.