BY HELEN LAME’
Stepping up the competition in a possible playoff preview, the Valkyries came up short in the second half against the Eastern Conference leading Atlanta Dream, falling 79-63 at Chase Center Sunday night.
Atlanta’s Brittney Griner goes up for a shot during the Dream’s 79-63 win over the Valkyries Sunday night at Chase Center.
Golden State and Atlanta traded baskets in a low scoring first half, going into the locker room tied at 25, but the Dream came out strong after halftime, dominating play and outscoring the Valkyries 54-38 in the second half on the way to a comfortable win.
It was a costly loss for Golden State (18-16), stalling their push for a playoff spot against an Atlanta (22-12) team that has now won nine of their last ten games that they would face if the season were to end today.
Laeticia Amihere drives to the basket during the Golden State Valkyries 79-63 loss to the Atlanta Dream Sunday night.
Asked about Atlanta’s second half defense, Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase stated, “They turned it up a notch, and then if we’re losing Illy (Iliana Rupert), and Temi’s (Fágbénlé) in foul trouble, so if both of our bigs, one is out and one’s in foul trouble. I think Laeticia Amihere is a great big, and she’s active, and she brings a different presence. But now we’re a little bit undersized, and so they were able to pick us apart a little bit. So that’s what you saw, Temi got in foul trouble, we had to take her out; Illy then went down, we had to take her out. But I love the fact that Laeticia was fighting, and that’s all I could ask for, at the end of the day is a fight. We know we didn’t give our best effort tonight, and we own it.”
Golden State’s Tiffany Hayes puts up an off balance shot Sunday night during the Valkyries 79-63 loss to the Atlanta Dream.
Ryhne Howard paced the Dream with 14 points, five rebounds and six assists, while Allisha Gray and Brionna Jones each added 13. The win extended Atlanta’s lead in the East to a full game over the New York Liberty.
Veronica Burton led the Valkyries with a game high 16 points, going 7-7 from the line, while Cecilia Zandalasini had 11. Temi Fágbénlé had eight points in just 14 minutes of foul plagued action.
Golden State returns to action Tuesday night with a 7PM game against the Phoenix Mercury at Chase Center.
