Date, Time, and Location: Thursday, May 21st, 5:00pm, Barclays Center (Brooklyn)
Broadcast Information: Prime Video (full national), WWOR and Liberty Live (opposition broadcast area)
After a week without a game, the Golden State Valkyries start a very tricky two-game road trip on Thursday against the New York Liberty. Golden State made the early season road trip to Brooklyn last year as well, losing twice, but they did split the games in San Francisco. New York won their first two games of the season against Connecticut and Washington and most recently split two games on a road trip in Portland. The game will have no local Valkyries broadcast, with a national Prime Video broadcast being used instead.
The Valkyries
Player availability was always going to be the big question mark with the days of ret since the last game. The first move that the team made was waiving Ashten Prechtel on Tuesday, a sign that the situation was not going to be the same as last week. There was more news on Wednesday when the Valkyries officially activated Juste Jocyte after she was able to report to the team. She was listed as out on the injury report though as she will be given time to acclimate and practice. Cecilia Zandalasini is still in concussion protocol, keeping her out, but Tiffany Hayes is set to be available after her finger injury.
The Opposition
The New York Liberty made a coaching change this offseason after not making the title run that they had hoped for last season. There were Golden State ties with their moves as they hired Chris DeMarco away from the Warriors staff and he hired an assistant coach in Will Sheehey with a history there as well. Two more assistants, Courtney Paris and Addi Walters, are Bay Area natives.
New York kept the core of their four star roster-building strategy with Breanna Stewart and Jonquel Jones returning. They applied the core designation to Sabrina Ionescu, ultimately signing her to a three-year contract along with the other two and then brought in her former college teammate Satou Sabally in via free agency on a two-year contract. Both of them have not played so far this season, but are now listed as questionable on the injury report. The team also has two more returnees as Marine Johannes has been playing a key role in Ionescu’s absence while Rebekah Gardner has been important for their wing depth.
The Liberty also have two players on their roster who they retained exclusive signing rights to even though they missed last season. Betnijah Laney-Hamilton missed all of last season due to injury, but has returned to the starting lineup for them, although she could miss the game after being listed as questionable due to personal reasons on the injury report. Raquel Carrera, the Spanish post player who they had signing rights to despite her never playing for the team, and Leonie Fiebich, who has been important for them the last two seasons in adding size on the wing, have just finished winning the championship in Spain. All of the absences have given them the chance to sign players on hardship contracts and former Valkyrie Julie Vanloo is still on their roster in that capacity.
New York is one of the other teams that has had no trouble going to the international route to fill out their roster. They won a free agent battle to sign Pauline Astier to her rookie contract as the young French guard went undrafted in 2022, but has had a strong professional career, including being teammates with Janelle Salaun and Kaitlyn Chen in Czechia. One of their developmental spots is being filled by Marine Fauthoux, who they drafted in 2021 while she was teammates with Juste Jocyte. The French guard had not signed a contract in previous seasons and has yet to make her debut as she recovers from a long-term injury. The other developmental player on their roster is Australian post player Alex Fowler, who surprisingly only got her first shot in the league this year after finishing a standout college career at Portland in 2023 and was recently teammates with Miela Sowah. They did also sign WNBA veteran Rebecca Allen in free agency.
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