CHILLICOTHE — The Coal Grove Lady Hornets have learned how to use a swipe card, and on Saturday they abused it.

The Lady Hornets used 17 steals to spark a 51-35 win over Williamsburg in the Paint Valley Shootout to open the basketball season.

Abby Nance had six steals while Jordyn Cox and Taylor Sexton got four each to lead the defense.

“We played pretty good defense. They had some size and gave us some problems rebounding, but our guards pressured them pretty well,” said Lady Hornets coach Nick Miller.

Cox had a big offensive game with 28 points including three 3-point goals. Chelsea Delong added 14 points and seven rebounds.

“Hopefully our scoring will be more balanced. And it will be. We had some good looks and the shots just didn’t fall. I’m confident we’ll be a balanced offense,” said Miller.

Cox and Delong each scored 6 points as Coal Grove took a 13-10 lead in the first quarter.

The defense held Williamsburg to 8 points and Cox scored 8 of her own as the lead went to 27-18 at the break.

Cox scored 10 of Coal Grove’s 15 points in the third quarter to build a 42-25 lead and the Lady Hornets coasted the final quarter as Miller emptied his bench.

Coal Grove plays at Ironton Tuesday.

Williamsburg 10 8 7 10 = 35

Coal Grove 13 14 15 9 = 51

WILLIAMSBURG (0-1): Heidi McManus 1 0 0-0 2, Katey Watson 0 0 0-0 0, Molly Bruns 0 0 1-4 1, Rachel Meisberger 1 0 0-0 2, Tara Dennis 1 0 0-0 2, Danielle Stice 1 0 0-0 2, Kelsey McManus 0 0 0-0 0, Samantha Davis 3 0 1-6 7, Darcey Little 8 0 1-2 17, Amy Brown 2 0 0-0 4. Totals: 17 0 3-12 35. Fouls: 12. Fouled out: None.

COAL GROVE (1-0): Abby Nance 0 0 1-2 1, Marissa Stevens 0 0 0-0 0, Kelli McMackin 0 0 0-0 0, Keesha Wyatt 0 0 0-0 0, Katie Harrison 0 0 0-0 0, Danielle Carpenter 0 0 2-4 2, Jordyn Cox 8 3 3-5 28, Taylor Sexton 2 0 2-2 6, Chelsea Delong 7 0 0-0 14. Totals: 20-56 (3-14) 8-13 51. Fouls: 12. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 6-16-22 (Delong 7, Sexton 4). Assists: 14 (Nance 5, Carpenter 4). Blocked shots: 2 (Carpenter, Harrison). Steals: 17 (Nance 6, Cox 4, Sexton 4). Turnovers: 11.