CEDAR FALLS -- Cedar Falls girls' basketball coach Dan List slowed Cedar Rapids Xavier down with a new wrinkle on defense. But it was the Saints' defensive effort that stole the show Tuesday night.

Class 4A's No. 5-rated Xavier held No. 14 Cedar Falls to three field goals over the final three quarters en route to a 31-17 victory.

Xavier's Alex Bartz and Annie Dale led all scorers with seven points apiece, while Kaz Brown finished with a team-high six points for Cedar Falls (7-4, 5-2 Mississippi Valley Conference) in a game that was an offensive struggle from the start.

Cedar Falls jumped out to an 8-5 lead on an interior move from Brown at the end of the opening quarter, but couldn't do much on Xavier's half of the court from that point on. The Tigers were overtaken after a scoreless second quarter and the halftime score stood at 9-8 in Xavier's favor.

The Saints complemented fullcourt pressure with a physical half-court man-to-man defense, rotating 10 players on a frequent basis. Bartz matched Brown's four blocked shots with three rejections of her own in a battle of Class 4A's leading shot-blockers.

"Most of our kids come to realize that if they want to see the floor, they have to defend," said Xavier Coach Tom Lilly. His team had allowed 38 points per game prior to Tuesday.

Cedar Falls showed up defensively, as well.

The Tigers kept Xavier (10-2, 5-2) in check with a box-and-one in which Imonee Qualls provided man-coverage on Saints guard Katlyn Andersen. It wasn't until late in the third quarter before the Saints and their up-tempo style finally broke the Tigers.

Xavier scored six points in 30 seconds to take a 19-12 lead with 10 minutes to play, then held onto the ball for a two-minute stretch in the fourth quarter before sealing victory at the free throw line.

"Dan (List) really surprised us," Lilly said of the Tigers' defensive look. "It took us a little bit of a discussion at half to try and figure that out."

Xavier held a 17-15 advantage in turnovers as each team tried to shake of rust following the winter break. Cedar Falls also struggled at the free throw line, where it went 5-for-13 and missed three front end 1-and-1's.

"We lost our composure," List said. "We had a chance to get a decent lead that first quarter. We had some set plays, but our passing was atrocious tonight, our free throw shooting was atrocious. Against a good team that's not going to win you too many games. ... Hopefully, they'll grow from this game."

XAVIER (31): Kayla Armstrong 2-6 0-0 4, Annie Dale 1-6 5-7 7, Sarah Dickes 1-3 0-0 2, Nicole Noonan 0-2 0-0 0, Maddie Bertsch 0-2 0-0 0, Katlyn Andersen 2-4 2-5 6, Emily Walvoord 2-3 1-2 5, Lisa Boomgarden 0-1 0-0 0, Ashley Stulken 0-3 0-0 0, Alex Bartz 3-5 1-3 7. Totals 11-35 9-17 31.

CEDAR FALLS (17): Allie Wirth 1-5 1-2 3, Mackenzie Demuth 0-3 0-0 0, Emily Neff 1-5 1-4 3, Krystal Graves 1-4 1-3 3, Kaz Brown 2-8 2-4 6, Imonee Qualls 1-5 0-0 2, Kaitlyn Hennings 0-0 0-0 0, Rachel Nurse 0-0 0-0 0, Jacquelin Conrad 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 6-30 5-13 17.

Halftime - Xavier 9, Cedar Falls 8. 3-point goals - none. Total fouls - Xavier 15, Cedar Falls 15. Fouled out - none.