It was a closely fought contest in Cumbernauld, with the Light Blues having to be patient before finding the breakthrough midway through the first half.
Having celebrated her 100th Rangers goal in last weekend’s Sky Sports Cup quarter-final victory over Partick Thistle, Wilkinson picked up where she left off to fire the hosts to all three points.
Leanne Crichton made two changes to her starting XI, with Laura Berry and Gry Boe Thrysøe returning to the side, while Hannah Blake and Brogan Hay dropped to the bench.
Rangers fashioned the first opportunity of the afternoon after just four minutes as Jodi McLeary was played through on goal by Laura Berry, but her effort sailed over the crossbar.
Hearts threatened at the other end as Mariana Speckmaier got the better of Bailley Collins before delivering into the penalty area. With Carly Johns waiting to pounce, Mijke Roelfsema reacted well to clear the danger.
The breakthrough arrived four minutes later as Berry picked out Collins, who made a clever underlapping run before delivering a dangerous ball into the box. Wilkinson reacted quickest to get the better of the loose ball, calmly slotting past Rachel Johnstone to put Rangers ahead.
The Light Blues looked to build on their advantage and came close to adding a second. Berry showed great footwork to skip past two defenders before driving towards goal, but her effort was blocked. May Cruft, celebrating her 50th appearance for the club, was first to react to the rebound and tried her luck from around 40 yards, with her ambitious strike narrowly clearing the crossbar.
Cruft went close again four minutes before the interval, working space for a low effort which Johnstone managed to keep out.
After the restart, Hearts were forced onto the back foot once more as Calliste Brookshire cut inside and tested the goalkeeper from a tight angle in the 55th minute.
The Gers continued to press for a second and almost capitalised on a defensive error as Wade's attempted pass back to Johnstone fell short, allowing McLeary to pounce on the loose ball, but her subsequent effort was struck straight at the Hearts goalkeeper.
Hearts threatened an equaliser in the 78th minute after a misplaced pass back from Eilidh Austin towards Thrysøe allowed Speckmaier to seize possession. Spotting Shu Ohba off her line, the forward attempted an ambitious effort from distance, but the ball drifted narrowly wide, nestling into the side netting.
The Gers held firm in the closing stages to secure another important three points and extend their winning run in the league.
Attention now turns to a huge week for Rangers, with a meeting against Celtic next on the agenda.
RANGERS: Ohba, Collins (Hill, 89), Austin, Roelfsema, Docherty, Thrysøe (Hay, 79), McLeary, Cruft, Berry, Wilkinson, Brookshire
Subs not used: Fife, Boyce, Connolly-Jackson, Black, Ewens, Blake
HEARTS: Johnstone, J. Husband, E. Husband, Girasoli, Forsyth (Rennie, 79), Fulton (Hope, 84), Speckmaier, Johns, Wade, Dolan, Jardine
Subs not used: Thomson, Smith, Halliday, Crawford, Fraser, Burn, Campbell
