WISE - - Nia Vanzant led a trio of UVA Wise scorers in double figures with 18 points while Josie Hester netted a career-best 16 points to lead Jamie Cluesman's crew to a 66-57 win over Flagler College inside the Prior Center Sunday.

UVA Wise (2-0) used a strong defensive performance for the second consecutive day to secure the victory. Vanzant and others played stifling on the ball defense to limit Flagler (0-2) to 33.3 percent shooting for the game while holding Saints leading scorer Sharale McCormick to 5-of-16 shooting.

Flagler led 14-10 at the 2:55 mark of the first period when McCormick canned a jumper. It would be the Saints largest lead of the game as the Cavs would go on a 21-point scoring spurt to take a 31-14 advantage and essentially put the game out of reach.

Hester was pivotal in the stretch as she scored 10 first half points while Vanzant added eight first half points. Katlin Burger scored eight of her 10 points in the opening 20 minutes in what was the sophomore's season debut.

A 3-pointer by Hester would give UVA Wise its largest lead of the day at 54-36 with 8:59 to play in the game.

The Saints would fight back over the remainder of the game, getting as close as eight points on two occasions but the Cavs would keep the visitors at distance to secure the victory.

Vanzant added six rebounds, three assists and two blocks while Hester grabbed five rebounds and dished out two assists without committing a turnover in 36 minutes of action.

With 18 points, Vanzant has now scored 1,185 points to move to 15th place on the school's all-time scoring list.

McCormick and Taylor Gardner scored 17 each to pace Flagler in defeat. The Saints turned it over 18 times while being outscored 28-to-22 in the paint.

Cluesman's crew will attempt to go 3-0 Wednesday when King University visits the Prior Center for a 5:30 p.m. tip.