BUTLER TWP — Butler girls basketball coach Dorothea Epps didn’t take long to diagnose her team’s biggest issue.

The Golden Tornado has to find a way to score. Butler struggled offensively in a 48-41 Section 1-AAA loss to last-place Oakland Catholic Thursday night at home. It was the third section loss in six days for Butler (7-5, 2-4).

“Score, score, score. It’s simple as that,” Epps said about what needs to improve. “Our defense is good. We created the turnovers that we wanted the last two games. Our defense has been very good, we just don’t score off of the turnovers we create.”

The Golden Tornado played were without senior forward Lauren Bresnahan. Epps declined to comment on why Bresnahan was out.

Schaffner, who was making her first career start, finished with seven points and five rebounds. She made a jumper with 6:48 left in the game to put Butler ahead 33-30.

At the start of the game, Schaffner appeared timid when she had open looks at the basket. Epps implored her to take shots.

“She says if I don’t shoot, I’m sitting down,” Schaffner said. “So I kind of have confidence in myself when I shoot it.”

After Schaffner’s jumper, the Eagles (3-11, 2-5) found their groove. Taylor Renk made a 3-pointer to tie the game and start an 11-0 run for Oakland Catholic.

Taylor McCorkle capped the run with a layup to put the Eagles ahead 41-33 with 3:28 remaining.

Oakland Catholic coach Shannon Kearney said the Eagles finally showed a sense of urgency.

“They knew you get four quarters of basketball and they had come to the last one,” Kearney said. “We talked about not wanting to play from behind for a whole quarter and how hard it is to win a game coming from behind rather than being the one that comes from ahead.”

Julia Baxter, who finished with 14 points, nine rebounds and three blocks, scored the next four points for Butler to cut the lead to 41-37. Trailing 41-39 after a layup by Ronni Guiney, the Golden Tornado got the ball back after a jump-ball with 1:15 remaining.

A 3-pointer from Kalynn Callihan fell short and the Eagles made free throws to seal the game.

Butler shot 40 percent (18 of 45) from the field and 14 percent (3 of 22) from the perimeter.

“We didn’t make shots. That’s what the game falls to,” Epps said. “We don’t get to the line enough to get easy points. We didn’t hit shots.”

Butler led 20-18 at halftime thanks to a 3-pointer Schaffner made with 20 seconds remaining in the half.

The Golden Tornado led by as many as seven, 30-23, in the third quarter before Oakland Catholic rebounded.

Alyssa DiPippa scored 11 points and grabbed seven rebounds for Butler.

Marissa Zegeer scored a game-high 17 points for Oakland Catholic and Taylor McCorkle had 13 points and nine boards.

Turnovers — the Golden Tornado committed 19 — limited their effectiveness on offense.

That’s something that needs to improve to help snap Butler’s three-game skid.

“Limit turnovers,” Schaffner said. “A lot because they didn’t press and we turned it over. They double-teamed our posts and we had to make more shots.”

Butler hosts Shaler Saturday afternoon in what will be its fourth section game in eight days.

OAKLAND CATHOLIC 48

Taylor Renk 2 0-0 6, Taylor McCorkle 4 5-6 13, Kelly Vigliotti 2 0-0 5, Melissa Zegeer 7 1-1 17, Madison Caufield 2 0-0 4, Katie Kush 0 0-2 0, Essence Casady 1 1-2 3. Totals: 18 8-14 48.

BUTLER 41

Alyssa DiPippa 3 2-3 11, Danielle Hensel 0 2-2 2, Kalynn Callihan 1 0-2 3, Julia Baxter 6 2-2 14, Tiana Schaffner 3 0-0 7, Paige Lambermont 0 0-0 0, Ronni Guiney 2 0-0 4. Totals: 18 6-10 41.

Oakland Catholic 6 12 12 18 — 48

Butler7 13 11 10 — 41

3-point goals: Oakland Catholic 5 (Renk 2, Zegeer 2, Vigliotti); Butler 3 (Callihan, DiPippa, Schaffner)

JV: Oakland Catholic 51-31

Saturday: Shaler at Butler