BUTLER TWP — And the beat goes on.

The Butler girls basketball team pushed its winning streak to 15 games with a 56-42 win over visiting Plum Thursday night.

The Golden Tornado led 28-18 at halftime, but saw their lead cut to 37-30 with 3:02 left in the third quarter.

That's when Butler sophomore guard Casie Cygan hit a 3-pointer that pushed her team's lead to 40-30.

Plum didn't get closer than nine points.

"That was a huge shot by Casie," said Butler coach Dorothea Epps. "Plum had the momentum before that.

"Casie's done that all year and she has a lot of confidence," added Epps.

Though Butler (16-1) entered the final period with a 44-31 lead, all five of its starters, Lyndsy Day, Olivia Bresnahan, Karissa King, Erica Miller and Kayla Gilliland, had three fouls.

"More than the fouls themselves was that we kept putting Plum at the line," said Epps. "We have enough girls on our bench that if a starter fouled out, we could put somebody else in. But Plum wasn't getting many field goals. Most of their points were coming from the line."

The Mustangs (8-8) tallied only 13 field goals Thursday.

In the second quarter, Plum didn't make a field goal until Shelby Tarr's basket with 1:02 left before halftime. But eight free throws in the period helped to keep the team in the game.

It was the 13th time this season that Butler has held an opponent to 45 points or fewer.

First-year Plum coach Bernie Pucka said he needed a better effort from his defense.

"Butler takes a lot of pride in the defense they play," he said. "But I think the key tonight was our defense's inability to get back because they killed us in transition."

Bresnahan led all scorers with 20 points and Cygan added 12.

Plum was led by Emily Anderson and Tarr, who each scored 11.

Butler's 16 wins have come by an average of 20.3 points.

But Epps is the first to admit that her team needs to keep improving if it is to enter the playoffs playing its best basketball.

"We have to get rid of those dead spots on the offensive end," she said. "Our defense comes up with a big stand, but then we have four or five trips in a row where we don't score."

Butler will host Woodland Hills (12-4) on Saturday.

"With a 16-1 record, we know every team is after us now," said Epps. "Woodland Hills will be a nonsection game, but we are treating every game the same."

PLUM 42Allison Ballina 1 0-1 2, Katelyn Griffin 1 0-1 2, Shelby Tarr 4 3-4 11, Kayla Kruszka 3 2-5 8, Emily Anderson 2 7-10 11, Lindsay Deemer 0 3-4 3, Taylor Adams 2 1-4 5, Lindsey Gray 0 0-0 0, Raelyn Mains 0 0-0 0, Michelle Provano 0 0-0 0.

Totals: 13 16-29 42.

BUTLER 56Lyndsy Day 2 0-0 5, Olivia Bresnahan 5 10-21 20, Erica Miller 2 4-4 8, Kayla Gilliland 1 0-0 2, Casie Cygan 4 3-3 12, Rachel Doutt 2 1-1 5, Jenna Manuel 2 0-0 4.

Totals: 18 18-29 56.

Plum 8 10 13 11—42Butler 13 15 16 12—563-point goals: Butler 2 (Day, Cygan).

JV: Butler 46-21 (B-Emily Wise 10 points)

Saturday: Woodland Hills at Butler