WSU started their 2019-20 basketball season with a convincing 85-48 win over the Pepperdine Waves on Tuesday.

Already leading 39-27, senior guard Chanelle Molina scored a 3-pointer from the top of the key as time expired in the half. Molina finished the second quarter with ten points as WSU led 42-27.

Redshirt senior forward Borislava Hristova said that the team made sure to carry over the positive momentum they got from Molina’s buzzer beater into the second half.

“That gave us great energy, and it showed. We came out really aggressive in the third quarter,” Hristova said in the post-game press conference.

Molina went on to record 13 total points in the game, which was second on the team. Molina also posted five rebounds and four assists.

Hristova earned player of the game after a 23 point performance, which led the team. Hristova shot 7-14 and also had three rebounds and an assist on the night.

With those 23 points, Hristova moved into second place in the all-time leading scoring list with 1,722 total points. She is only 246 points away from Jeanne Eggart’s record of 1,967 set in 1982.

“It is just an honor to be up there with those great players,” Hristova said. “It just makes me work harder.”

Head coach Kamie Ethridge said with the mindset Hristova was in during the game, it was a surprise she did not get all of the points in just one half.

“I am just really proud of Bobi,” Ethridge said. “She is doing so many good things for us, not just on the offensive end.”

Two more Cougars found themselves with double digit performances on the night. Freshmen centers Emma Nankervis and Bella Murekatete collected 10 points each in their WSU debuts.

Murekatete also added five rebounds and three steals in her debut where she saw 14 minutes of playing time.

“Bella’s ceiling is so high. She will be so good if she chooses to really put her mind to it,” Ethridge said.

Nankervis got the start in her debut. She said she felt nervous throughout, but she was able to turn those nerves into something positive as she thought about how great she and her teammates were doing on the court.

Having her teammates trust her the way they did after a handful of practices Nankervis said she felt she underperformed in was also stress relieving.

“I think it comes a lot from the guards trusting us,” Nankervis said. “They just trust that we will be in the right spot and they pass it to us, and I think today it paid off.”

Ethridge called the duo “unbelievably talented,” and said she was pleased with what she saw from them on both sides of the ball.

“I love the two. We are putting a lot of pressure on them because we need them to grow up and be really good for us on both ends of the court,” Ethridge said.

With the win over Pepperdine, WSU now leads the all-time series at 2-0.

WSU will look to carry over the success from game one as they face BYU in another home game on Saturday.