Five years ago, she said she did not originally intend on playing basketball at WSU. After a visit though, Borislava Hristova, also known as Bobi Buckets, ended up enjoying the environment.

Now, Hristova is preparing for her redshirt senior year as a Cougar.

“I’m just trying to achieve better things with this team,” Hristova said.

Hristova made an impact early, breaking a school record that stood for 26 years when she scored over 20 points in nine games. She also led the team averaging 16.3 points per game and became the second freshman in WSU history to score 30 or more points in a game when she posted 30 against San Jose State.

The success did not stop there. After overcoming an injury during her second season, she was named to the All-Pac-12 Team as a redshirt sophomore after leading the team averaging 17.8 points per game.

As a redshirt junior, Hristova started in all 30 games for the Cougars and achieved double-digit scoring in 28 different games and recorded an average of 19.9 points a game, fourth-best in school history. She concluded last season with first-team All-Pac-12 honors.

Even with all these accomplishments, Hristova said she is not satisfied and does not think she has shown her full potential yet.

Hristova has made 1,699 career points.

“This is in the past,” Hristova said. “I don’t look back at it.”

Head coach Kamie Ethridge said this humble attitude sums up Hristova perfectly.

“A great quality to have as a basketball player is to have that humility yet follow it up with an unbelievable work ethic,” Ethridge said.

Hristova said looking forward to what is next is something she learned from her parents, and they have influenced her the most in basketball.

“My parents pushed me a lot. Even if I had accomplished something, we would celebrate it, but the day after, it’s in the past,” Hristova said. “I’m looking to achieve better things and set higher goals for me. They’ve always pushed me, and they have set up that mentality for myself.”

Hristova had the opportunity to achieve her goal of playing professionally but elected to stay at WSU for another year. She said although this decision was hard, she trusts the coaching staff and wants to be a part of something big with them.

“I feel like we are building a really good culture and a really good team this year,” Hristova said. “I want to try to help this team do something special.”

Hristova overcame a lot of the challenges that come with a new coaching staff. Being a “freshman in their system” required her to play a position she was not used to playing, but Ethridge has helped her develop in the position, she said.

“She has been really hard on me last year and this year, and that has helped me grow as a player and as a person,” Hristova said. “She has pushed me to be the best I can be and to see my potential.”

Ethridge said she knew what kind of player she was inheriting when she arrived at WSU. Hristova lived up to the expectations and continues to do so, Ethridge said.

“Clearly that made us all realize she is one of the most gifted players in our league offensively,” Ethridge said. “She did not disappoint us there.”

Hristova has set her sights on a championship for this season, Ethridge said.

“She wants to get to an NCAA tournament for Washington State,” Ethridge said. “She feels like we have a chance to do that this year, and she is a big reason why we will.”