Taking part in their second sport since shedding All-Star Kayla Thornton to a season-ending knee harm, Golden State nonetheless had an opportunity to claw again to .500 on Sunday.
Dealing with the Solar, the staff with by far the worst file within the WNBA, the Valkyries performed arguably their worst sport of the season after flying in to Connecticut at 9 a.m. native time on Saturday and tipping off at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
Coming off a rousing 86-76 residence victory over the Paige Bueckers-led Dallas Wings on Friday, the guests’ highway woes continued as Connecticut rolled previous Golden State 95-64 within the first sport of the Valkyries’ five-game journey.
“I just have to do a better job of organizing this day in between, and giving them more direction on how this day works out,” Golden State coach Natalie Nakase mentioned, noting that she continues to be studying methods to navigate the WNBA schedule as a head coach.
The Valkyries (11-13) are 8-4 at Chase Middle, however dropped to 3-9 on the highway.
Towards the Solar (4-20), the offense was a multitude, committing 24 turnovers that led to 34 Solar factors. Connecticut outscored Golden State 14-2 on the fastbreak.
“We learned what not to do, and how to stay together when things hit the fan,” Valkyries guard Veronica Burton mentioned. “But this is one I think we’ve got to scrap.”
Iliana Rupert, enjoying in her second sport with the staff since arriving from France, led the Valkyries with 13 factors and 4 rebounds.
In the meantime, .4 Suns gamers scored in double figures, with residing legend Tina Charles scoring 24 and grabbing six rebounds in simply 19 minutes. Marina Mabrey and Bria Hartley every scored 15.
The Solar, which had misplaced 14 of its earlier 15 video games heading into Sunday, led 49-33 on the half.
The Valkyries fell a half-game behind the Aces for the eighth and closing playoff spot, and can attempt to get again within the winner’s column towards Atlanta on Tuesday.
Zoning out
The Valkyries have been an elite protection all season, coming into Sunday’s sport ranked No. 3 in factors allowed per sport (78 ppg) and first in opponents’ FG% (40.2%).
That shot-stopping prowess didn’t present up within the Northeast as Golden State was picked aside by a Solar squad that was backside of the league in factors per sport (73.3).
The Solar had been 7 of 17 from 3-point distance within the first half, with Bria Hartley placing in 3 of 4 within the first 20 minutes.
The worst staff within the league eviscerated Natalie Nakase’s vaunted zone, forcing the Coach of the 12 months frontrunner to scrap it within the second half.
“I’ll give Connecticut credit, because they played really hard today and with a lot of energy, and we just had zero,” Nakase mentioned. “It wasn’t our day. We’re missing free throws, layups, and that’s just out of character.”
The Valkyries missed Thornton, who spent the primary half of the season guarding the opposite staff’s prime participant and being an elite help-side defender. Monique Billings additionally didn’t play.
Man-to-man hardly labored significantly better, as Golden State trailing by 23 simply 4 minutes into the third quarter.
Thornton-less ahead rotation
Earlier within the week, Nakase made it clear that no particular person participant on the Valkyries could be anticipated to switch the offensive manufacturing of Thornton, the staff’s lone All-Star who will miss the remainder of the season due to a knee harm.
Cecilia Zandalasini, Janelle Salaun and Laeticia Amihere cut up time on the ahead spot. Salaun, the staff’s prime shot-creator from the wing, put in 9 factors.
However Zandalasini and Amihere had been much less prolific. Amihere was 1 of seven, and Zandalasini took only one shot.
Martin is cash
Wing Kate Martin didn’t play towards Dallas on Friday, however the second-year Iowa product remained prepared for her second towards Connecticut.
On a day when the Valkyries had been caught in impartial, her helter-skelter play-style and willingness to bomb away from deep was one of many staff’s few vivid spots. She subbed in for the primary time within the second quarter and shortly made two 3-pointers.
Martin, who put in 9 factors, simply missed out on scoring in double-figures for the eighth time this season.
Initially Printed: July 27, 2025 at 11:59 AM PDT
