JKR never answered that; in the books, interviews (I searched entire Accio Quote) or Pottermore for Chamber of Secrets. The most the books have is Ron/Harry's understanding that Hermione wrote the word "Pipes" meaning that Basilisk used the pipes to move around the castle.
However, "the only opening big enough was Myrtle's bathroom" isn't really a fact, it's merely the entrance to the Chamber.
The architecture of Hogwarts is shown to be variable (shifting staircases, for one); so it's plausible that Salazar Slytherin, one of the 4 founders, configured the pipe system to be able to open up wherever needed. That's just my personal speculation.