PITTSBURGH — Trailing by two points with time winding down, Butler found the shot it was looking for.

It just didn’t fall.

Coming out of a timeout with 16 seconds left, the Tornado swung the ball to the corner for Cait Baxter, who fed Mackenzie O’Donnell in the post. But the shot from Butler’s leading scorer rimmed out and Oakland Catholic escaped with a pivotal 31-29 Section 3-AAAA girls basketball triumph on Thursday night at Donahue Pavilion.

The Eagles (6-8, 5-1) took sole possession of second place in the section, while Butler (8-8, 4-2) had a four-game win streak snapped and fell to third.

“It’s huge,” said Oakland Catholic coach Shannon Boyle of the victory. “Our first goal is to win our section and you can only do that one game at a time.

“Butler is a very good team,” she added. “We put a game plan together and we executed it to the best of our abilities.”

Although the Golden Tornado never led in the second half, the game was tightly contested throughout. Oakland Catholic’s biggest advantage was 17-11 early in the third quarter, but a Sam Marak bucket tied it up with 25 seconds left in the frame and Butler had it all square twice in the fourth.

“When you’re on the road, you know that you’re going to have to fight harder,” said Butler coach Dorothea Epps. “They came out and fought and that’s what I’m really proud of.”

The Tornado will soon have a chance to jump back into the race for a section title. Butler hosts section leader North Allegheny on Thursday at 7:30 p.m., before welcoming the Eagles for a rematch Jan. 26 at 1 p.m.

“All is not lost. We’ll gather it back together,” said Epps. “They’ve been growing each game. This hurts, I know it does for them, but I think they’ll bounce back come next Thursday.”

The Tornado made just 2-of-6 free throws in the fourth quarter and 5-of-11 for the game. Butler shot 32.3 percent from the floor — while holding the Eagles to 26.8 percent — but Epps felt the Tornado failed to convert on opportunities to improve their chances down the stretch.

“We missed some key foul shots, which on the road you have to put down,” she explained. “We missed several lay-ups that were wide open like the last one.

“But hey, that doesn’t lose a game,” Epps added of the final shot. “It was a good look; she just missed it. But we missed a couple of other easy baskets and if we make those then we’re not in that position.”

At times, rebounding was also a problem for the Tornado. Oakland Catholic had a 27-21 edge on the boards, including 10 offensive rebounds to Butler’s four.

Madison Caufield — who scored a game-high 12 points for the Eagles — drained a 3-pointer off a fourth-chance possession in the second quarter. Oakland Catholic capitalized on another key offensive rebound when Mara Fitzgerald’s trey went around the rim, off the backboard and through the net at the third-quarter buzzer to give the Eagles a 21-18 edge.

“Very discouraging,” said Epps of the second-chance points. “That was one of the things we talked about. We can’t give them two or three shots at the hoop and there were at least four or five possessions that they got even more than that.”

It’s an aspect of the game Boyle has stressed to her players.

“We try to teach our players to box out and go after the ball every single time,” she said. “We have a little bit more size this year and I do feel like we’re doing a better job rebounding the basketball.”

Baxter had a team-high 10 points and six rebounds for Butler, while Natalie Barkus added seven points and two steals. O’Donnell chipped in five points and four rebounds. Marak dished out a game-high three assists and tallied two steals.

Halfway through the section schedule, Butler continues to eye a postseason berth.

“We’re getting better and that’s what you want to do at this point,” said Epps. “We’re just fighting for that playoff spot and I know this team is not going to lay down. They’re going to keep fighting.”

BUTLER 29

Cait Baxter 3-10 2-3 10, Sam Marak 1-5 0-0 2, Mackenzie O’Donnell 2-7 1-2 5, Kalynn Callihan 1-3 0-0 2, Natalie Barkus 2-4 1-4 7, Alyssa DiPippa 1-2 1-2 3, Morgan Pfabe 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 10-31 5-11 29.

OAKLAND CATHOLIC 31

Taylor Renk 1-7 0-0 3, Taylor McCorkle 0-0 3-4 3, Madison Caufield 4-12 0-0 12, Nicole Johnson 2-9 0-0 4, Mara Fitzgerald 3-9 0-1 7, Paige Bianchin 0-1 0-0 0, Kelly Vigliotti 1-2 0-0 2, Allison Nedrow 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 11-41 3-5 31.

Butler 5 6 7 11—29

Oakland Catholic5 10 6 10—31

3-point goals: Butler 4-10 (Baxter 2-5, Barkus 2-2, Callihan 0-2, Marak 0-1); Oakland Catholic 6-23 (Caufield 4-12, Renk 1-6, Fitzgerald 1-5).

JV: Butler 31, Oakland Catholic 29, 2 OTs, Leah Murphy scored game-winning putback with three seconds left (B: Murphy 6, DiPippa 6; OC: Coppetta 12).

Thursday: North Allegheny at Butler, 7:30 p.m.