Area roundup: Washington State women breeze by Saint Louis 85-63

Borislava Hristova poured in a game-high 21 points on 9-of-18 shooting and the Washington State Cougars (5-4) breezed to an 85-63 victory over the Saint Louis Billikens (4-6) in nonconference women’s basketball action on Monday in Pullman.

Reserve Alexys Swedlund scored 13 for the Cougars, while Chanelle Molina came off the bench to score 11 on 4-of-4 shooting, including a pair of 3-pointers.

Paige Rakers scored 14 to pace the Billikens. Aaliyah Covington and Jenny Vliet added 12 points apiece.

Maria Kostourkova hit a jumper to give WSU a 2-0 lead and the Cougs never trailed. After Vliet hit 1 of 2 free throws, Hristova scored five quick points to give the Cougars a 7-1 lead 2 minutes into the game. The Cougars led by eight after one quarter and pushed their lead to 39-26 at halftime.

WSU shot 47.8 percent (33 of 69) from the floor, including 37.5 percent (6 of 16) from 3-point range. Saint Louis hit 24 of 59 shots (40.7 percent) from the floor and 7 of 21 from long range (33 percent). The Cougars forced 19 turnovers, while committing just seven.

Taylor Pierce scored 27 points on 9-of-10 shooting from behind the 3-point arc and the Idaho Vandals (3-4) rolled to an 80-60 win over the Cal State Fullerton Titans (2-7) in Moscow.

Pierce, who missed her only 2-point shot, added four assists for the Vandals. Mikayla Ferenz added 17 points and seven rebounds for Idaho, while Geraldine McCorkell and Sarah Bersang scored 12 and 10, respectively.

Idaho shot a blistering 62.5 percent (15 of 24) from 3-point range, while the Titans connected on just 5 of 25 attempts (20 percent). The Vandals also controlled the boards by a 38-28 margin.

Daeja Smith topped Cal State Fullerton with 19 points and nine rebounds. Triann Thompson added 11 points and Ashlee Ane scored 10 for the Titans.

The Vandals led by 10 points after the first quarter and then used a 29-point second quarter to push the advantage 48-23 at halftime.

Gonzaga Bulldogs junior forward Jill Barta was named the West Coast Conference player of the week after averaging 24.5 points and nine rebounds in wins over Eastern Washington and Portland State.

Barta notched her fourth double-double of the season against the Eagles and scored 30 in a win over the Vikings. It is the third time she has been tabbed player of the week in the WCC after receiving the honor twice as a sophomore.

Junior hockey

Spokane Chiefs defenseman Filip Kral has been invited to a pre-tournament camp for the Czech Under-20 National Team.

Kral, who has three goals and 10 assists in 19 games this season, leads Western Hockey League rookie defensemen in scoring.

Kral will be trying to make the Czech team that will play in the 2018 IIHF World Junior Championship in Buffalo, New York, from Dec. 26 through Jan. 5.