INSTITUTE, W.Va. - -  Makenzie Cluesman scored a career-high 29 points as UVa-Wise finished the game on a 25-7 run as the No. 9 seed Cavaliers claimed an 84-74 road victory over No. 8 seed West Virginia State in the opening round of the 2016 MEC Tournament presented by GoMart.

West Virginia State (13-16) opened the game on a 16-5 run as MEC Freshman of the Year Laura Szorenyi scored six points in the first period to lead the Yellow Jackets.

UVa-Wise (13-14) closed the first 10-minute session on a 9-0 scoring spurt as Cluesman came off the bench to score nine of her points during the spurt.

A layup by the Cavs' Blair Harding tied the game in the opening moments of the second quarter at 16-16. Szorenyi and Cluesman traded buckets before a free throw by Alle Moore gave UVa-Wise its first lead of the day at 19-18 with 7:06 to play in the opening half.

Shealyn Shafer would make a pair of shots inside while Szorenyi added a two-point shot as part of a 6-0 run by the Yellow Jackets to run the score to 24-19 in favor of the hosts with 6:08 to play in the quarter.

Cluesman answered with a 3-point shot before Kayla Carey scored in the paint to tie the game. West Virginia State would then close the half on a 15-9 run to take a 39-33 lead to intermission.

The Yellow Jackets would lead by as many as eight in the third quarter and by six with just under two minutes to play in the period before the Cavs began battling back.

Taylor Sandidge scored four points over the final minute of the quarter to help her team get within three at 58-55 heading to the final 10 minutes.

West Virginia State did all it could to put the game out of reach in the opening moments of the fourth quarter as Alexus Hobbs banked in a 3-pointer before a bucket by Szorenyi to put the hosts up 67-59 with just under seven minutes to play.

The remainder of the game belonged to UVa-Wise. Cluesman canned a 3-pointer before consecutive buckets from Moore made the score 67-64 with 5:17 to play.

The duo would give the Cavs the lead moments later when Moore scored inside and Cluesman hit her fifth 3-point basket of the night.

Cluesman's long distance shot put UVa-Wise up for good as the team finished the game on a 25-7 scoring run.

It was the third consecutive season UVa-Wise has won its opening round MEC Tournament game. The Cavs will now face top seeded and regular season champion West Liberty in the quarterfinal round Thursday at the Charleston Civic Center at 6 p.m.

Sandidge finished the game with 21 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. Cluesman added six boards to her career-high scoring performance while Moore (13) and Blair Harding (10) also finished in double figure scoring.

As part of Sandidge's 21-point showing, the junior became the 18th player in program history to elcipse the 1,000 point plateau.

Szorenyi led West Virginia State in scoring with 20 points while Hobbs recorded a double-double with 18 points and 10 boards in defeat.

West Virginia State led for the majority of the contest, UVa-Wise led for just 4:14 of the game in comparison to the 32:14 the hosts led.

Thursday's quarterfinal game can be heard live by visiting www.uvawisecavs.com.