PINE TWP — Since the Pine-Richland girls basketball team usually keeps games close at home, it has posed challenges for Butler in the past.

When the Rams trailed by two points late in the second quarter Thursday night, however, the Golden Tornado scored six consecutive points and 12 of the final 16 of the first half to run away with a 67-43 section victory.

Butler coach Dorothea Epps recalled a conversation with her son, Aaron, the Tornado's assistant coach, about playing on P-R's.

"I told him, 'This game scares me.' This place allows Pine-Richland to play us well," she said. "Even if we're better on paper and we should beat them, they give us fits.

"They come out fighting hard. I have to give it to them. They came out and played hard," Epps added.

Butler (11-5, 9-0) scored the first five points of the game, but an 11-4 Rams run gave the home team a two-point lead.

However, the Golden Tornado went on an 10-2 spurt with baskets by Mackenzie O'Donnell sandwiching a 3-pointer by Casie Cygan before Cygan added a three-point play for a 19-13 lead.

Scores by K.J. Jackson and Kathleen Humes pulled the Rams (6-11, 2-6) back to within two points.

"We're becoming a legitimate defensive team," said Rams coach Molly Copple. "We're confident with the ball and our girls worked hard. We're really coming around."

After the teams exchanged baskets, P-R's Abbie Altman had a chance to knot the score, but she missed the front end of a one-and-one, and Butler's Amanda Dymun scored in transition.

That started the aforementioned run to help send Butler to a 32-23 halftime advantage.

When Humes opened the second-half scoring with a bucket, the Rams were down by seven points, but they would draw no closer.

The Tornado's two leading scorers, Olivia Bresnahan (19 points) and Cygan (21), each had 12 points in the second half to put the game out of reach.

"Those are our leaders on the floor," said Epps. "They had to step up and put this team on their backs to get offensive power and get the defense going.

"We weren't doing what we were supposed to be doing. We had girls come off the bench to give us a spark and gave us what we needed," she added.

The Tornado have reeled off nine consecutive wins — all section contests — after a 2-5 start. The last loss was a 58-52 decision at New Castle Dec. 23.

"We're executing better," said Epps. "They're staying more on task. All those teams we lost to were at the top of their sections. We've learned a lot and now we're executing and know what it takes.

"Sometimes, you have a great season like last year, then the next you think it's automatic. I think they've learned a lot and matured a lot as the season's gone on."

BUTLER 67Casey Fleeger 1 0-0 2, Katresa Savisky 1 5-6 7, Olivia Bresnahan 6 7-11 19, Casie Cygan 8 3-4 21, Mackenzie O'Donnell 2 0-0 4, Becky Nowacki 2 0-0 4, Amanda Dymun 3 0-0 7, Cait Baxter 0 0-0 0, Emily Wise 0 0-2 0, Ali Sedwick 0 0-0 0, Jasmine Bailey 0 0-0 0.

Totals: 24 15-23 67.

PINE-RICHLAND 43Abbie Altman 2 0-1 5, K.J. Jackson 3 3-4 9, Lisa Rader 2 0-0 4, Kathleen Humes 3 2-4 8, Kelly Keenan 2 0-0 4, McDarragh Minnock 3 2-2 8, Brittany Killian 0 1-2 1, Kara Peters 1 0-0 2, Brittany Byerly 0 0-0 0, Taylor Berresford 1 0-0 2, Ellen Graszl 0 0-0 0.

Totals: 17 8-13 43.

Butler 14 18 19 16—67Team 11 12 14 6—433-point goals: Butler 4 (Cygan 2, Dymun, Sedwick); Pine-Richland 1 (Altman).

Monday: North Allegheny at Butler