ROSS TWP — Impressive wins don't net teams style points.

Flashy victories count the same as ugly ones.

It's a good thing for the Butler girls basketball team because this 54-19 win over North Hills Monday night was no looker.

It was about as gruesome and scarred as a 37-point win can be.

"It's a win. It was an ugly win, but we will take it," said Butler coach Dorothea Epps. "Basically, I was just trying to get through the night."

Neither team was particularly sharp on offense.

Butler (18-1, 7-0) shot 36 percent from the floor. North Hills (3-15, 0-8) was much worse. When the Indians were able to muster a shot, it rarely went in.

The difference was the hounding Butler defense, which blew into North Hill's gym like, well, a tornado after a slow start and blew the Indians away.

After falling behind 8-4 with three minutes remaining in the first quarter, Butler made it nearly impossible for North Hills to get a look at the basket.

By the time halftime came and the harsh winds of the Golden Tornado defense had calmed, Butler led 33-10.

In an 11-minute span, Butler forced 19 turnovers and caused the Indians to miss all 11 of their shots.

In the game, North Hills had 42 turnovers and attempted 36 field goals, making only seven.

That made Epps crack a small smile, at least.

"I guess when you look at it that way, you can't get too down about it," Epps said. "I felt like we just didn't have enough energy today."

Butler didn't need much energy to short circuit North Hills.

The Indians had a stretch of 16 minutes between field goals, then hit only one in the final 10 minutes of the game.

Butler had 10 players score, but none in double digits.

Olivia Bresnahan and Casie Cygan each scored nine for the Tornado.

Senior point guard Lyndsy Day scored five points, but could easily have had 20 assists for Butler had the Tornado shot better.

The win was the 17th straight for Butler. Its only loss came by three points against Mercyhurst Prep.

The streak means little to Epps and the rest of the team, however.

"We don't even think about the streak or talk about how many wins we have," Epps said. "The only way I know is when I read it in the paper. That's the way it has to be because if you start thinking about how many wins you have, a team will catch you."

BUTLER 54Lindsy Day 2-5 0-2 5, Olivia Bresnahan 3-7 3-10 9, Erica Miller 2-3 2-2 7, Casie Cygan 3-8 3-5 9, Karissa King 2-7 0-0 4, Kayla Gilliland 1-4 0-0 2, Katherine Sylvia 2-8 2-2 6, Jenna Manuel 3-7 1-3 7, Rachel Doutt 1-3 1-2 3, Ashley Onufrak 0-0 2-2 2, Casey Fleeger 0-1 0-0 0, Emily Wise 0-0 0-0 0, Becky Nowacki 0-0 0-0 0, Katresa Savisky 0-0 0-0 0.

Totals: 19-53 14-28 54

NORTH HILLS 19Ali Patton 3-5 0-1 7, Juli O'Connell 1-9 2-2 4, Courtney Waters 1-4 0-0 2, Julie Havrilla 0-1 0-0 0, Leigha Zangaro 1-5 0-0 2, Katy Turzak 0-1 1-3 1, Tara Veverka 1-4 0-0 3, Kate Wilson 0-1 0-2 0, Ema Wingerd 0-3 0-0 0, Jessica Rectenwald 0-1 0-0 0, Aleah Marx 0-0 0-0 0, Julia Klein 0-1 0-0 0, Jessica Wieland 0-1 0-0 0.

Totals: 7-36 3-8 19

Butler 13 20 15 6—54North Hills 8 2 6 3—193-point goals: Day, Miller; Patton, Veverka

Thursday: Shaler at Butler