The home side burst out of the blocks at Shaftesbury Park on Sunday, the first Allianz Premier15s match broadcast on the BBC.
Bristol scored twice in the opening 10 minutes, either side of a Flo Williams penalty. First through Alisha Butchers, who sprinted over for a fine long-range solo score, then through Courtney Keight as the Bears backline capitalised on an over-thrown lineout.
Kayleigh Powell bounced through a tackle to score the Bears’ third with 22 minutes on the clock, but Wasps responded just before the break when they were awarded a penalty try after a period of pressure on the Bristol line, and Abbie Ward was sent to the sin bin.
Wasps looked lively after the restart and narrowed the deficit to just two points when Maud Muir rumbled over from a driving maul and Williams slotted the subsequent conversion, but the tide would soon turn.
The Bears jumped on another overthrown lineout two minutes after the restart as Hannah West hit fifth gear and sidestepped her marker to score Bristol’s fourth and secure the bonus point. Player of the Match, Powell, then followed that up by finishing off a scintillating Bears attack that started just outside their own 22.
Elsewhere Sale Sharks lost 10-36 to Harlequins while Exeter Chiefs banked their fourth win of the campaign but slipped to fourth in the table with a 14-7 triumph over Lougborough Lightning.
Gloucester-Hartpury and Saracens played out a thriller in front of the cameras at the Alpas Arena, as the two-times champions snatched a last-gasp 21-24 win on the road with the final play of the game.
