BUTLER TWP — Different dance, same song.

The things that have plagued the Butler girls basketball team this season plagued it again in a 51-38 home loss to Pine-Richland Thursday night.

Turnovers? Check.

Long scoring droughts? Check.

Frustration? Check.

“That's been the trademark of this team right now: turnovers and not being able to score,” said Butler coach Dorothea Epps.

The Golden Tornado trailed by as many as 13 points early in the second quarter, but made a nice run to close the gap to 27-22 with two minutes remaining before the half.

That was encouraging to Epps.

“I was pleased with the way they fought back,” Epps said. “I was like, ‘OK. They get it.' It's not like they aren't playing hard. They are playing hard.”

Butler entered the half down by only six points, but couldn't take advantage of the momentum swing.

The Rams shut out the Tornado in the third quarter, turning what was a close score into a 40-26 lead for Pine-Richland.

Butler never got the deficit to single digits after that.

What frustrated Epps and the Tornado the most was they held the Rams to eight points in the period.

“We needed to come out and make a stand,” Epps said. “We came out and didn't score. The third quarter was really the ballgame. We were stopping them. They didn't score a ton, either.”

Butler (3-13, 1-8) had 23 turnovers in the game. All were costly.

Pine-Richland (5-8, 2-6) withstood the Butler storm with a balanced scoring attack.

Kara Peters led the Rams with 17 points. Abbie Altman and Emily Johanson each had 10 for Pine-Richland.

“Defensively in that third quarter, that kind of gave them the confidence to stay strong and stick with it,” said Pine-Richland coach Molly Copple. “Any win we can get is good for us right now.”

Caitlin Baxter scored 15 points for Butler.

Ali Houk keyed the Butler rally in the second quarter with all seven of her points off the bench.

Still, not all is bleak.

Epps said she sees the signs of improvement. It's just keeping her team's morale from dipping that is her greatest challenge at this point.

“You try to keep them up because they are a lot better in some aspects of the game,” Epps said. “If they can just put it all together in one night.”

PINE-RICHLAND 51Abbie Altman 4-8 0-0 10, Emily Johanson 2-12 6-8 10, Brittany Byerly 2-5 2-4 6, Kara Peters 4-8 9-16 17, Kayleigh Jackson 1-10 1-4 3, Lisa Radar 2-6 0-0 4, Taylor Berresford 0-0 0-0 0, McDarragh Minnock 0-3 0-0 0.

Totals: 15-52 18-32 51.

BUTLER 38Morgan McLaughlin 0-1 0-0 0, Sam Marak 2-4 0-0 4, Jasmine Bailey 2-6 0-2 4, Emily Eyth 0-2 0-0 0, Shelby Johnston 1-1 1-2 3, Mackenzie O'Donnell 1-2 3-4 5, Ali Houk 1-1 4-4 7, Caitlin Baxter 5-19 5-8 15.

Totals: 12-36 13-20 38.

Pine-Richland 17 15 8 11—51Butler 8 18 0 12—383-point goals: Pine-Richland 3 (Altman 2, Byerly); Butler 1 (Houk).

JV Score: Pine-Richland 32-29 (Emily Eyth 17)

Monday: Butler at North Allegheny