WISE - - Kim Cook came off the bench to score a game-high 18 points to lead Notre Dame College to a 65-57 Mountain East Conference women's basketball victory over UVa-Wise at the Prior Center Saturday.

Notre Dame (19-8, 15-5 MEC) entered the game ranked No. 10 in the most recent Atlantic Region Poll in need of a strong close to the season to improve its hopes of an at large bid to next month NCAA Tournament.

Lauren Macer's club led by just five, 31-26, at intermission before clamping down on UVa-Wise (6-19, 5-15 MEC) in the third quarter to take a 47-35 lead to the fourth quarter. In the period, the Falcons forced six turnovers which led to nine points. Seina Adachi was pivotal in the stretch as she netted six of her 10 points in the quarter.

UVa-Wise would make a late push and had the lead to as a few as four points, 61-57, following a pair of free throws by Kalee Johnson with 1:09 remaining. It would be as close as the Cavs would get as Marisa Finazzo would can four consecutive foul shots to close out the league win.

Free throw shooting proved vital down the stretch, Notre Dame made 9-of-10 from the charity stripe in the final quarter while UVa-Wise connected on just 5-of-14 attempts. For the game, the Falcons made 20 foul shots on 27 attempts while the Cavs were 12-of-25.

A trio of players registered double figure scoring for Elise Clyburn's team in the loss. Freshman Bianca Lockamy and Sophomore Cynita Webb each tallied 11 points while Adalmaryz Rivera-Gomez picked up 10 points.

Eight Falcons dented the scoring column with three players joining Cook in double figure scoring. Abi Oriti netted 12 off the bench to join Finazzo (12) and Adachi in double figures. Behind the play of Cook and Oriti, Notre Dame outscored UVa-Wise 35-to-18 in bench points.

The game was the final home game of the year for the Cavs who will wrap up the season with a pair of road games next week. First up, UVa-Wise will visit the University of Charleston Wednesday in a 5:30 p.m. tip.