HONOLULU – The Washington State women's basketball team (3-0) continued its strong start to the season with a 70-57 victory over Nevada (0-3) in the opening game of the Bank of Hawaii Rainbow Wahine Classic at Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu, Friday afternoon. Freshman Borislava Hristova continued an impressive start to her career, leading all scorers with 23 points. The Cougars forced a season-high 26 turnovers by the Wolf Pack, outscoring Nevada 21-1 off of turnovers.

In addition to leading the way with 23 points, Hristova also pulled in a team-high seven rebounds. Senior Dawnyelle Awa led the way with four assists and three steals. The Cougars jumped out to a quick 10-0 start and never conceded the lead, finishing 28-of-67 (.418) from the floor.

“I'm really pleased with the way we came out and played as hard as we did for 40 minutes,” WSU Head coach June Daugherty said. “I thought that whenever Nevada made a run, our answer was to get the defense going and really sit down and get after it. It was good to see us get into a running game off of our defense.”

At the start of the game, sophomore Bianca Blanaru carried the Cougars to a 10-0 start. The Romanian native broke her career-high less than 80 seconds into the game with five points.  Blanaru finished with seven points, including 3-of-3 from the freethrow line.

After falling in to its early deficit, Nevada fought back to within three points, scoring seven unanswered points. The Cougars finished the opening quarter with a 19-15 lead over the Wolf Pack after scoring eight points on seven Nevada turnovers.

The Cougars dominated the second quarter, outscoring Nevada 17-6 over the 10-minute period. Hristova scored seven points for WSU while fellow Bulgarian and freshman Maria Kostourkova grabbed three rebounds. Kostourkova finished the game with five rebounds and a career-high eight points.

Washington State carried a 15-point lead into halftime. In the opening 20 minutes, the Cougars forced the Wolf Pack into 18 turnovers, which led to 15 WSU points. The Cougars also distributed the ball well, with eight scorers and 10 assists through the opening half.

Nevada looked to overcome its double-digit deficit in the third quarter, outscoring WSU 24-18. The Wolf Pack shot 7-of-13 from the floor in the period, coming within nine points in the final minute. However, the Cougars found their form in the final quarter, shooting 7-of-13, while holding Nevada to 12 points.

Sophomore Caila Hailey finished the game with a career-high four rebounds. Fellow sophomore Pinelopi Pavlopoulou dished out three assists, tying her career high set last season. Senior Dawnyelle Awa finished with nine points, a season-high and just four points shy of her career high.

The Cougars conclude the 2015 Bank of Hawaii Rainbow Wahine Classic with a Sunday matchup against host school Hawaii. The game is scheduled to tip off at 5 p.m. HT (7 p.m. PT) with coverage on Oceania Time Warner Cable and a webstream available online.