CHESHIRE — When things looked bad, the Coal Grove Lady Hornets looked to their defense.

The Lady Hornets trailed by 11 points at the half but rallied in the second half to beat the River Valley Lady Raiders 51-47 Thursday in an Ohio Valley Conference game.

“Team-wise, our girls did a great job defensively,” said Lady Hornets’ coach Nick Miller. “It was a good win for us.”

Freshman Ashley Adkins had a career-high 25 points – 21 in the second half — including three 3-point goals to lead the Lady Hornets. Chelsea Delong added 14 points for Coal Grove (3-3, 1-1).

Brooke Marcum had 15 points and Alli Neville 10 to lead River Valley (3-3, 1-1).

The Lady Raiders took a 10-7 lead in the first quarter. Delong had all 7 of Coal Grove’s points.

River Valley outscored Coal Grove 16-8 in the second quarter to lead 26-15 at the break.

But Adkins had 11 points in the third quarter and the defense limited River Valley to 2 points as Coal Grove stormed back to take a 31-28 lead.

Adkins was 8 of 12 from the line in the fourth as Coal Grove pulled away to a 10-point lead with less than a minute to play.

Coal Grove plays at Rock Hill on Saturday.

Coal Grove 7 8 16 20 = 51

River Valley 10 16 2 19 = 47

COAL GROVE (3-3, 1-1): Ashley Adkins 4 3 8-12 25, Kelli McMackin 0 2 0-2 6, Ashley Goad 0 0 0-0 0, Amanda Collins 1 0 1-2 3, Chelsea Delong 2 3 1-2 14, Kim Hanshaw 0 0 3-4 3, Darrien Hankins 0 0 0-2 0. Totals: 7 8 13-24 51.

RIVER VALLEY (3-3, 1-1): Jessica Hager 1 0 0-0 2, Kelsey Sands 1 0 0-0 2, Alli Neville 5 0 0-0 10, Beth Misner 0 0 0-0 0, Cady Gilmore 1 2 0-0 8, Jenna Ward 1 1 2-2 7, Tracy Roberts 0 0 3-9 3, Brooke Marcum 6 0 3-5 15. Totals: 15 3 8-11 47.

Reserves: Coal Grove 19-2. CG leaders: Cheyenne Bellomy 7, Katie Erwin 6. RV: Mercedes Combs 2.