WEXFORD — Get the ball, get the lead, and protect the lead.

The Butler girls basketball team worked that game plan almost to perfection Tuesday in posting a 46-37 victory at North Allegheny in a mutual Section 3-AAAA opener.

The Golden Tornado (4-1) forced seven Tiger turnovers in the first quarter and took the lead for good at 8-6 on Lyndsy Day's baseline jumper with 2:54 left in the period.

A 6-0 run at the end of the first half gave Butler a 25-18 advantage at halftime. Julie Ehrman sank a 3-pointer, Samantha Karns hit a free throw and Day scored a layup off a fast break following a steal.

North Allegheny (3-3) suffered 13 of its 17 turnovers in the first half. After pulling within 19-18, the Tigers didn't score in the final 4½ minutes of the half.

"We didn't come out matching their intensity in a section game," Tigers coach Will Saunders said. "Our inexperience hurt us today. We weren't ready for them."

Butler has held its opponents to fewer than 40 points in all four of its wins this season.

"That's the key for us," Tornado coach Dorothea Epps said. "We need points off turnovers and we got some tonight."

Butler's lead reached 40-29 on an Amy Achesinski free throw with 7:08 left in the third quarter. Forcing turnovers and grabbing rebounds enabled the Tornado to take 35 shots from the field in the first half. Butler sank just 10 of those shots, however.

The inconsistent offense mattered little because of Butler's high-pressure defense.

"Those girls are in great shape and they can press non-stop," Saunders said. "We wanted to counter that by attacking quickly, but they disrupted everything we tried to do."

"Once NA runs its set offense, it's like a machine," Epps said. "They got very few field goals in their half-court sets, though, and I was happy to see that."

Entering the fourth quarter with a 10-point lead, the Tornado attempted just two shots from the floor in the final eight minutes.

Butler possessed the ball for nearly three minutes before North Allegheny could force the Tornado to the foul line. Ehrman sank both free throws to give her team a 45-33 lead with 1:26 left.

Achesinski paced Butler with 13 points and eight rebounds. Ehrman scored 10 points off the bench and point guard Ashley Nocera added eight. Ehrman and Nocera each sank a pair of treys.

Karns had eight rebounds for Butler, which enjoyed a 33-28 edge on the boards.

"We knew they had a good inside-outside game with Ehrman and Achesinski," Saunders said. "That point guard surprised me. I didn't know she could shoot like that.

"If they have two outside shooters to go with their big girl, their offense is going to be tough to stop."

Jackie Lang, a 5-foot-11 freshman, paced NA with 12 points. Kristen Beatty had five rebounds.

Butler had only 12 turnovers in the contest.

"This has been a tough place for us to play for a number of years now," Epps said. "To come in here and win our section opener, this is big for us.

"This was a very, very important win. But in this section, celebrations are short-lived. We have to get ready for Pine-Richland on Thursday, because they'll be ready for us."

BUTLER 46

Rachel Barry 1-3 1-2 3, Lyndsy Day 3-4 1-3 7, Liz Schultz 0-1 0-0 0, Ashley Nocera 3-9 0-2 8, Amy Achesinski 4-14 5-6 13, Maria Baroffio 2-6 0-1 4, Julie Ehrman 3-8 2-2 10, Samantha Karns 0-1 1-2 1, Michelle Ritchey 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 16-47 10-18 46

NORTH ALLEGHENY 39

Sarah Haas 1-5 0-0 2, Amanda Dice 0-0 0-0 0, Kristen Beatty 1-1 0-0 2, Rachel Divosevic 4-11 1-2 9, Jackie Lang 5-5 2-2 12, Dawn Murphy 1-7 0-0 2, Kate Clancy 1-2 0-0 3, Maria Nolan 3-8 3-4 9, Ginny Thistle 0-1 0-0. Totals: 16-40 6-8 39

3-point goals:

Nocera 2, Ehrman 2; Clancy

JV:

Butler, 45-30 (B-Adrianna Foley 8)

Thursday:

Pine-Richland @ Butler