BUTLER TWP — The Butler County Community College women's basketball team's perfect start to the season came to an end Thursday night.

And it was a Butler County native who troubled the Pioneers the most.

Knoch graduate Jen Robinson scored a game-high 21 points and recorded 17 rebounds to lead the Allegheny College junior varsity to a 70-66 win at the BC3 Field House.

With the score tied at 61 late in the second half, Robinson tallied two consecutive rebounds and putbacks to give the Gators a 65-61 lead with 1:18 remaining.

The Pioneers (4-1) re-took the lead briefly with two free throws from Heather Spangler and Shannon Onderko's conventional three-point play with under a minute to play.

But when Allegheny's Stephanie Izurieta drained a baseline jumper with 41 seconds left, the Gators (4-1) were ahead for good.

With 10 points and nine rebounds, Robinson almost had a double double by halftime, but the performance came as no surprise to Pioneers coach Sean Carroll.

"She's a good player," he said. "We saw her play several times in high school. She got a lot of her points simply because we didn't have a body on her underneath. But, to her credit, she was able to take advantage of it."

The performance was a big step forward in the maturation process for Robinson, a freshman forward.

"Right now, she's working hard on the fundamentals," said Gators coach Katie Tetzlaw. "And she's getting better every day."

"The biggest difference between high school and this level of college is that most of the teams we play have girls that are 6 feet," said Robinson, who stands 5-feet-10.

Robinson's 21 points included a perfect 5-for-5 from the free throw line.

"When practice started this season, I was horrible from the line," she said. "But I worked hard at it. I get distracted very easily, so it's just a matter of going up there and thinking of nothing else but making the free throw."

Despite BC3's defeat, Onderko played a great second half, scoring 16 of her team-high 19 points in the final 20 minutes.

The Pioneers forced the Gators into 21 turnovers, but Allegheny retaliated by outrebounding the BC3 50-22, including a 27-12 advantage in the second half.

Robinson has hopes of moving up by her sophomore season.

"I plan on playing on the varsity team next year," she said.

"We have six seniors on this year's varsity team, so there will be some minutes up for grabs next season," said Tetzlaw.

Notes:

Seneca Valley grad Julie Wills scored 14 points for the Pioneers and added a team-high five rebounds. … Butler product Heather Spangler offered nine points and three rebounds while Karns City graduate Laura Seyler managed six points and three boards.

BCCC (66)

Julie Wills 5 0-0 14, Stephanie Devore 1 2-2 4, Shannon Onderko 8 2-3 19, Brittany Beatty 2 2-2 6, Briana Reebel 3 0-0 8, Laura Seyler 2 1-3 6, Heather Spangler 3 2-5 9, Beth Rodgers 0 0-2 0. Totals: 24 9-17 66.

ALLEGHENY COLLEGE JV (70)

Stephanie Izurieta 7 0-0 18, Jamie Seman 1 0-1 2, Jessica Morrelli 2 0-0 4, Maggie Mucha 6 2-2 17, Jen Robinson 8 5-5 21, Stephanie Lasinski 2 4-12 8, Christina Stutphen 0 0-0 0. Totals: 26 11-20 70.

Three-point goals

— BC3: Wills 4, Reebel 2, Onderko, Seyler, Spangler; Allegheny: Izurieta 4, Mucha 3.