PULLMAN, Wash. – Washington State women's basketball opened the 2014-15 season with a convincing 76-60 victory over visiting No. 22/22 University of Dayton at Beasley Coliseum Friday.

The Cougars were led by their two dynamic guards junior Lia Galdeira and senior Tia Presley who finished 21 and 18 points, respectively, while forcing 30 Flyer turnovers and holding DU to 31 percent shooting. Dayton, an NCAA Tournament team the last five seasons, defeated WSU 87-76 in Ohio last season.

Washington State overcame a slow shooting start of its own after forcing some Dayton miscues and tallied 28 points off of turnovers, recorded 13 steals and received 19 points from its bench to knock off its fifth ranked opponent in the last two seasons. Galdeira also matched senior center Shalie Dheensaw with a team-high eight rebounds while Dheensaw added three blocks. Junior guard Taylor Edmondson chipped in with nine points and freshman guard Pinelopi Pavlopoulou notched eight points and six rebounds in her collegiate debut.

The opening minutes saw each struggle to get a shot to fall before Washington State erupted for a 20-2 run midway through the first half. Layups by Dheensaw and Dawnyelle Awa started the run and Pavlopoulou capped the rally with a three from the left corner and a pass out to Edmondson who knocked down a three from the top of the key on the next possession that brought the Beasley Coliseum crowd to its feet.

The run opened up a double-digit lead for the Cougars who answered a 7-0 Dayton spurt with a 10-0 streak over the final 2:21 as Galdeira caught fire at the end of the first half. The All-Pac-12 selection from a season ago scored eight straight points on a pair of free throws and back-to-back threes from the right wing and then drew a charge on the ensuing defensive possession. The Cougars got another stop and Awa closed the half with a layup for a 40-25 advantage at the break.

Washington State played with a double-digit lead for the final 20 minutes as the Flyers were held to 33 percent shooting and committed 12 turnovers in the second half. Galdeira notched 11 points in the second period as the Cougar lead never got below 13.

Galdeira's 21 points pushed her career total to 1,091, No. 12 on WSU's all-time scoring list while Presley upped her career point total to 1,025, No. 15 on in school history. Galdeira knocked down a pair of 3-pointers to push her career 3-point total to 105, passing Tricia Lamb (1997-200) for ninth-most in school-history.

Washington State continues its season-opening four-game homestand Sunday with a 1 p.m. matchup against Idaho State University.