FAIRMONT, W.Va. - - Kalee Johnson netted a career-high 22 points while Cynita Webb turned in her 14th double-double of the season with 15 points and 15 rebounds as UVa-Wise claimed its first ever victory at Joe Retton Arena in wire-to-wire fashion with a 79-72 Mountain East Conference win over Fairmont State.

UVa-Wise (11-12, 9-8 MEC) began the game with its best defensive quarter of the year by limiting the hosts to just 1-of-16 shooting from the field.

Fairmont State (10-13, 7-10 MEC) missed its first 13 shots of the game as the Fighting Falcons fell behind 19-4 after 10 minutes of play.

The Johnson – Webb combination was lethal in the opening quarter. Johnson netted seven points while Webb grabbed eight rebounds to spur the fast start. FSU's lone field goal in the quarter came from Brooke Kurucz; overall, the Falcons were 0-for-6 from the 3-point line while being out rebounded 16-9.

The slow start proved to be too much to overcome for Steve McDonald's FSU club. His team recovered with 22 point second quarter and followed the strong period up by outscoring UVa-Wise 20-16 in the third quarter.

Down seven entering the final 10 minute session, Fairmont State made a final push by cutting the lead to as few as five points on three occasions only to see Jamie Cluesman's squad answer with scoring spurts to keep the Falcons at distance.

With the lead trimmed to 53-48 with 9:40 to play, UVa-Wise responded with a 3-pointer by freshman Makenzie King. Later in the quarter with the lead at 58-53, Johnson had a 5-0 scoring run of her own as the Elizabethton, Tenn. native made a layup before knocking in a 3-pointer of her own to make it a 63-53 contest with 7:10 play.

Johnson's long range shot set the tone for the remainder of the lead would stay at least three possessions until the final seconds when a Rachel Laskody layup made it 77-72 with 14 ticks remaining.

In total, four Cavs finished in double figure scoring, sophomore Hanna Oliver made 5-of-10 field goal attempts to collect 13 points while fellow sophomore Ada Stanley tossed in 11 to finish in double figures for the fourth consecutive contest.

Laskody led FSU by scoring a team-high 21 points and adding 10 boards for a double-double. Kurucz joined Laskody with 21 points of her own while Sierra Kotchman fired in 18 points in defeat.

Both teams were perfect from the free throw line, FSU finished 10-for-10 while UVa-Wise made all nine of its attempts.

Five different Cavs made a 3-pointer in the win as the club finished 6-for-15 from beyond the arc.

UVa-Wise won the battle of the boards 37-31 while outscoring FSU in bench points 25-6.

Coupled with Shepherd's home loss to Concord, the win by the Cavs propels the team into sixth place in the league standings.

UVa-Wise and Shepherd will meet Saturday in Shepherdstown, tip-off is set for 2 p.m.