BUTLER TWP — Casie Cygan figured she was going to have to score more this season.

The junior guard is off to a good start.

Cygan scored a career-high 29 points as Butler won a 65-8 decision over Northgate in a strange statistical girls basketball game in the first round of its tip-off tournament Friday evening.

"I didn't realize I had that many," Cygan said. "I hope I have more nights like tonight."

Cygan was the one consistent shooter on the floor for either team.

She scored 10 points in the first quarter as the Golden Tornado jumped out to a 20-4 lead. Most of her points came on layups at the other end of 45 Northgate turnovers.

"She can get up and down that floor," said Butler coach Dorothea Epps. "Casie, when she is gone, she's gone. She carried us in that first half offensively. Liv (Bresnahan) is good at getting her the ball."

Bresnahan added 16 points, but struggled from the field.

The Golden Tornado suffered from an epidemic of poor shooting. At one point in the first half, Butler missed 22 straight field goal attempts — many of them layups inside.

"Is that all?" Epps said, sarcastically. "We rushed too many shots. We just shot too fast. Hopefully, we can come out and shoot better (against Mercyhurst Prep Saturday) or we are going to be in trouble."

It didn't help that Northgate had Erica Benny in the middle swatting away shots like mosquitoes.

The Flames' junior had a rare double-double: 10 blocked shots, 10 rebounds and zero points.

In fact, Gateway attempted only 18 field goals in the game, making two.

Meanwhile, Butler was firing up shots in bunches, making just 27-of-80 attempts.

Things were better in the second half. Butler shook off a 3-for-30 shooting effort in the second quarter and shut out the Flames 35-0 in the second half.

"The girls weren't happy with their play," Epps said. "They understood the urgency of coming out and playing better in the second half."

With the lopsided outcome, Epps and Cygan said their team didn't get a whole lot out of their first game.

"I was nervous coming into the game because of the team we were playing," Cygan said.

Epps said she wanted to work on more things but couldn't because of the game situation.

"It was a tough game for us," Epps said. "It was a strange game."

NORTHGATE 8Erica Benny 0-2 0-0 0, Sarah Dunn 1-3 0-0 2, Lauren Ferree 0-6 2-2 2, Janice Freeman-Webb 0-0 0-0 0, Karianne Hoover 1-4 2-5 4, Savannah Paladin 0-2 0-0 0, Chloe Quinn 0-1 0-0 0, Kayla Saylor 0-0 0-0 0, Jamia Walker 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 2-18 4-7 8

BUTLER 65Olivia Bresnahan 6-18 4-6 16, Casie Cygan 13-18 2-4 29, Amanda Dymun 3-11 0-1 6, Jenna Manuel 0-4 2-2 2, Katresa Savitsky 0-6 1-2 1, Casey Fleeger 2-5 1-2 5, Rachel Doutt 1-6 0-0 2, Emily Wise 1-4 0-0 2, Ali Sedwick 0-2 0-0 0, Becky Nowacki 1-5 0-0 2, Shelby Johnston 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 27-80 10-17 65

Northgate 4 4 0 0— 8Butler 20 10 22 13—653-point goals: Cygan

JV: Butler 48-12 (Becky Nowacki 10)

Saturday: Mercyhurst Prep @ Butler, 8 p.m.

HOPEWELL 43Paige Alvaini 6-12 0-0 14, Olivia Bonavita 0-1 0-0 0, Amanda Tocci 2-9 0-0 5, Elise Farris 7-14 0-7 14, Susan Kraus 0-0 0-0 0, Allison Giammanco 1-9 4-6 6, Samantha Fisher 2-4 0-0 4, Frace Novacek 0-1 0-0 0, Lindsay Erath 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 2-18 4-7 8

MERCYHURST PREP 55Autumn Anderson 2-4 1-2 5, Amber Beason 0-1 0-0 0, Amanda Berchtold 3-5 5-5 12, Bonita Booker 3-4 0-0 6, Florie Fournier 1-1 0-0 2, Kelly Hedderick 0-1 0-0 0, Kristen Olowinski 3-7 6-6 13, Courey Schaetzle 1-4 0-0 2, Lindsay Stamp 5-7 0-0 13, Kayla Wilwohl 1-2 0-0 2. Totals: 19-37 12-13 55

Hopewell 12 4 8 19—43Mercyhurst Prep 20 10 22 13—653-point goals:

Saturday: Hopewell vs. Northgate at Butler, 6:30 p.m.