The Lady Cherokees struggled to score early and were unable to recover from the slow start Tuesday night as they fell at home to Rockwood 33-23.

The Lady 'Kees scored just one point in the first quarter - a free throw by Samantha McCollum with 5:45 left in the period.
The Lady Tigers grabbed a quick 5-0 lead and, after McCollum made it 5-1, slowly increased the advantage to 11-1 after the opening quarter.

The Lady 'Kee offense began to come alive in the second, however, as they scored the first seven points of the period, in which only 11 points were scored in total.
Nearly two minutes into the quarter McCollum hit three straight free throws and then later hit a bucket to make the score 11-6 with 3:42 left before halftime.

Fourty seconds later, the only other points of the quarter were scored by the Lady Cherokees as Ashley Brown hit a bucket to cut the gap to three.
That score remained until Lexi Monroe drained a three as time expired in the half.  Heading to the break, Greenback trailed 14-8.

The Lady 'Kees controlled the early parts of the third quarter as Brown, Kaylan Chaparro and Sarah Rhyne combined to bring the hosts to within one at 18-17.
The Lady Tigers took control from there, however, scoring the next six points to lead by seven as the game headed to the fourth.
Rhyne and Chaparro combined for the first four points of the fourth, but the Lady Tigers held a 9-2 advantage from there and clinched the win.

Chaparro and McCollum paced the Lady 'Kees with six points apiece.
The Lady Cherokees will return to action Friday night when they travel to Tellico Plains.  
Game time is set for 6 p.m.

Information for this story provided by Sammie Dunlap