FAIRMONT, W.Va. -- Fairmont State erased a nine-point first quarter deficit and held off West Virginia Wesleyan late to win 71-64 on Wednesday night at Dan Cava Court inside Joe Retton Arena.
 
With the victory, Fairmont State pushed its win-streak to four game and improved to 15-12 overall and 12-9 in Mountain East Conference play. Wesleyan fell to 3-24 overall and 1-20 in MEC play.
 
The Falcons are currently in sixth place in the league standing heading into the final game of the regular season. Fairmont State can move up to the No. 5 seed in next week's MEC Tournament with a win on Saturday over Frostburg, and a Notre Dame College victory over Urbana.

The Bobcats built a 20-11 lead after the first 10 minutes, but the Falcons opened the second quarter on a 10-3 run to get back into the contest. The Falcons wound up outscoring WVWC 22-7 in the second quarter and held a 33-27 lead into the break.
 
Fairmont State would push its lead to 18 points in the third quarter and 19 early in the fourth, but a 10-0 run midway through the fourth brought the Bobcats to within six at 62-56 with still 3:48 to play. FSU's Rachel Laskody converted a three-point play for the Falcons to push the lead back to nine, and free throw shooting down the stretch helped the Falcons seal the win.
 
Both teams shot under 40 percent from the field in the game, with Wesleyan holding a slight advantage (39.7-37.5). The Falcons held a 9-2 advantage in 3-pointers and also knocked down 14-of-18 free throw attempts in the victory.
 
The Falcons also forced 19 turnovers on the defensive end and scored 25 points off turnovers in the victory.

Sierra Kotchman finished with 23 points to lead the Falcons. Laskody nearly missed a double-double by adding 12 points to go with eight rebounds, while Kamrin Weimer contributed 13 points. Kotchman and Weimer combined for seven of Fairmont's nine 3-pointers on the evening.
 
In Wednesday's victory, Kotchman moved into second-place all-time in career 3-point field goals in Fairmont State history with 251. She needs just eight more 3-pointers to become the program's all-time leader in made three-point field goals (Kristen Gattuso, 258).

Nicole Gilyard had a game-high 25 points for the Bobcats. Cierra Tolbert also recorded a double-double with 11 points and 16 rebounds.
 
Fairmont State will return to action on Saturday against Frostburg State on senior day. Tip is set for 2 p.m. at Dan Cava Court inside Joe Retton Arena.