It wasn’t all the time fairly, however the Valkyries escaped Los Angeles with a win.
Two days after routing the Las Vegas Aces at residence, Golden State notched one other spectacular victory by defeating the Los Angeles Sparks 89-81 in extra time.
The win saved the Valkyries’ hopes of competing for the Commissioner’s Cup alive as they moved to 2-2 in cup video games.
Janelle Salaün led Golden State with 21 factors and eight rebounds. Temi Fágbénlé totaled 14 factors and 13 rebounds. Carla Leite got here off the bench and scored 15 factors.
Place to begin guard Veronica Burton limped off the ground within the fourth quarter, however returned to shut the sport and completed with 9 factors and 6 assists.
“We didn’t play our greatest half. I thought we played very soft defensively, but we knew what level we had to get to,” Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase stated. “We could tell in both the third and fourth quarter, they had each others back. That’s what we’re trying to do. We got to continue to rely on each other and hold each other accountable. So that was really cool to see.”
Sparks star Kelsey Plum totaled 24 factors on 7 of 20 taking pictures. Dearica Hamby scored 20 factors, grabbed 9 rebounds and dished out six assists.
Los Angeles outscored the Valkyries 25-8 in transition and transformed 14 Golden State turnovers to 21 factors. However Golden State out rebounded the Sparks 49-34 and scored 46 factors within the paint in a gritty win.
“We worked on that,” stated Valkyries ahead Kayla Thornton, who scored 18 factors and grabbed eight rebounds. “Once we get into the paint, our threes start to open up.”
The Valkyries went down 4 at halftime, however discovered their groove within the third quarter. Salaün and Fágbénlé mixed to attain 14 of the Valkyries 25 third-quarter factors.
After three intervals, the 2 groups had been tied at 65.
Golden State went chilly within the last 4 minutes of the fourth quarter, however two made free throws from Salaün gave the Valkyries a one-point lead with underneath a minute to go.
On the following possession, Plum bought Fágbénlé on a change and swished a stepback 3-pointer from the proper wing that gave the Sparks a 78-76 lead with 36 seconds left.
When Golden State bought the ball again, Leite tied the sport with a left-handed floater and bought a cease on the Sparks’ last possession to power extra time.
In extra time, the 2 groups performed even till the ultimate couple of minutes. Salaün snagged a key offensive rebound off a Fágbénlé miss and put it again within the basket to place the Valkyries up three with simply over two minutes left.
Thornton closed the door on the Sparks after she hit a left nook 3 with 38.1 seconds left to make the rating 38.1 seconds left. Burton then knocked down two free throws to ice the sport.
“My coach just kept telling me next shot,” Thornton, who scored 10 of her 18 factors within the fourth quarter and extra time, stated. “I know I can make that shot and I just had to believe in myself and I wouldn’t have made that without my teammates.”
After main by as a lot as 9 within the second quarter, Golden State couldn’t hold the Sparks from scoring in transition. Los Angeles totaled 16 quick break factors within the first half with Hamby getting behind the Valkyries’ protection quite a few instances or straightforward layups.
The Sparks closed the ultimate seven minutes of the second quarter on a 15-5 run that gave the house workforce a 44-40 lead at halftime.
Golden State continued its offensive momentum from the Aces recreation as they opened Tuesday’s contest with an 11-3 run. Temi Fágbénlé was dominant within the first quarter as she totaled eight factors by making 4 of her first six pictures to offer the Valkyries a 25-23 lead after the primary quarter.
The Valkyries rose to a tie for third within the Commissioner’s Cup standings with the win. Golden State has two extra cup video games in opposition to the Seattle Storm on Saturday and the Dallas Wings subsequent Tuesday to shut out the in-season competitors.
Initially Printed: June 9, 2025 at 9:26 PM PDT
