BETHEL PARK — Twenty-four first-quarter points against a Butler girls defense?

That wasn't the kind of start Golden Tornado coach Dorothea Epps was hoping for in Monday's game at Bethel Park.

For Black Hawks coach Jonna Burke, that's been the theme of her team so far.

Bethel Park used a 20-4 run to open a 31-12 lead in the second quarter and went on to post a 73-60 nonconference victory.

Butler trimmed the deficit to 10 at the half and knocked the deficit as low as eight points late in the game, but the Tornadocould pull no closer.

"They hit some shots early on and we turned the ball over, which gave them some easy shots," said Epps. "They were very up for us and we didn't match their intensity after the tip-off."

"(Monday) was our best game of the season, a young season already," said Burke. "We're not where we want to be ... but these first three games, we've come out ready to play."

Bethel Park (3-0) led 11-8 with 3:20 left in the first quarter before the Blackhawks scored 11 of the next 12 points in a 2:09 span, including seven from Katie Kendall, to take a 22-9 lead.

Butler's Olivia Bresnahan answered with a basket before the Black Hawks used a 9-1 spurt to seize the 19-point lead with 5:30 left before the half.

Butler's Amy Achesinski followed with a three-point play before Bethel Park's Kim Wilson drained a 3-pointer.

The Tornado (2-1) then forced some turnovers of their own and scored 11 of the final 13 points to close out the half and pull Butler to within 10 at 36-26.

Included in that run was Achesinski's third three-point play of the half.

Burke said the goal is to try to restrict Achesinski, but you can only do that so long.

"She still got 23 points and 12 in the first half," said Burke. "If anything, you try and frustrate her."

The Black Hawks had 12 points from Kendall and nine more from Samantha Loadman to highlight the team's scoring load.

In the second half, it was freshman Danielle McNabb who helped to keep Butler at bay.

McNabb hit a stretch of scoring 13 of 16 Bethel Park points, the latter two of which gave the squad a 65-54 lead with 1:53 remaining to squash any hopes of a complete Tornado comeback.

"She's been thrown into a situation where, because she's a freshman, she's made a big jump from eighth grade to varsity," said Burke. "With every game, she's gotten better. (Monday), she played with poise."

McNabb had 15 of her team-high 18 points in the second half while Kendall totaled 14, Loadman 13 and Bridget Bielich 12.

Aside from Achesinski, Maria Baroffio added 19 points, including three 3-pointers, and was six-of-seven from the free-throw line. Freshman Olivia Bresnahan chipped in with nine points.

"I've been harping all year that we need (players) to shoot to help Amy," said Epps. "Maria had a nice offensive game. We don't want to get too reliant on Amy."

Butler will host Knoch on Thursday and Epps can hope the team will return to its defensive ways.

"I told the girls we gave up too many points in transition," said Epps. "When it was a half-court offense, they didn't score as much.

"Defensively, we're not where we need to be. To give up (73) points is out of character and we have to fix that."

BUTLER 60Rachel Barry 2 0-0 5, Olivia Bresnahan 4 1-2 9, Elizabeth Schultz 0 1-2 1, Amy Achesinski 7 9-13 23, Maria Baroffio 5 6-7 19, Karissa King 0 0-0 0, Erica Miller 1 1-3 3, Katherine Sylvia 0 0-0 0.

Totals: 19 18-27 60.

BETHELPARK 73Katie Kendall 6 0-1 14, Samantha Loadman 4 4-4 13, Danielle McNabb 7 4-5 18, Kathy Poploski 1 4-6 7, Bridget Bielich 6 0-0 12, Erin Varley 0 2-2 2, Kim Wilson 2 2-2 7, Christy Brinkhoff 0 0-0 0, Samantha Unger 0 0-0 0.

Totals: 26 16-20 73.

Butler 11 15 14 20—60Bethel Park 24 12 15 22—733-point goals: Baroffio 3, Barry; Kendall 2, Loadman, Poploski, Wilson

JV: Butler, 24-19

Thursday: Knoch at Butler