Martinez Tribune The website of the Martinez Tribune.
BY DANIEL GLUSKOTER
The Valkyries moved closer to becoming the WNBA’s first expansion team to reach the playoffs with a dominating 66-58 win over the New York Liberty Tuesday night at Chase Center.
New York’s Breanna Stewart attempts to get off a shot over the defense of Monique Billings during Golden State’s 66-58 win over the Liberty Tuesday night.
Golden State raced out to a 24 point lead mid way thru the third period before the Liberty were able to turn up the heat defensively to make it a competitive game down the stretch, but the large lead gave the Valkyries enough to hold on against the defending champs despite only putting up ten points in the final quarter.
The win, their fourth straight, improved the Valkyries record to 22-18, extending Golden State’s record for most wins by an expansion team and solidifying the team’s hold on the sixth seed with only four games remaining.
Temi Fágbénlé led a balanced attack for Golden State with 16 points on 7-10 shooting and five rebounds. Kaila Charles and Janelle Salaün each scored ten while Kate Martin tallied 11 in just 14 minutes off the bench. Veronica Burton added nine rebounds and nine assists and was +16 for the game.
Carla Leite of the Valkyries gets off a pass in the lane under pressure from New York’s Natasha Cloud and Jonquel Jones during Golden State’s 66-58 win Tuesday night.
Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase was effusive in her praise for the team’s defensive effort after the game. “We’re continuing to climb. I think our communication has been elite over the last three games, and I think when we’re communicating we’re pretty dangerous, so credit to the coaching staff. Credit to our players for believing, trusting, and executing. That was a very tough team, very talented, so we knew we couldn’t make any mistakes on the defensive end. No room for error tonight. We’ve been building that since day one in training camp.”
Nakase continued, “Our defense is going to be what we rely on every night. So with that type of mindset, it was just constantly focusing drill. We were constantly trying to feed them more information on the defensive end. They don’t even have to learn, they love defense. They’re gritty. I think that definitely has built who we are, and I think that’s why we have won 22 games because of it, because of our defense.”
Janelle Salaün reacts during a second quarter Golden State run that saw the Valkyries outscore the Liberty 26-8 on the way to a 66-58 win at Chase Center.
The Liberty, who came in having won their first three games against Golden State, were led by Natasha Cloud and Breanna Stewart with 19 points each. New York only connected on 31.6% of their field goal attempts.
Golden State returns to action Thursday night with a 7PM game against Paige Bueckers and the Dallas Wings at Chase Center before concluding their home season Saturday evening against the league leading Minnesota Lynx.
GAME NOTES:
Golden State held New York to just 26 points in the first half, the fewest scored by the Liberty in a first half this season. The 58 scored is also a season low by New York
Monique Billings returned to action for the first time since July 29, scoring five points with three rebounds.
New York’s All-Star guard Sabrina Ionescu, a native of Walnut Creek, missed her third straight game with a toe injury.
