Date, Time, and Location: Wednesday, June 17th, 7:00pm, Chase Center
Broadcast Information: KPYX (San Francisco Bay Area) and KMAX (Sacramento Area), KFAA (opposition’s broadcast area), WNBA League Pass (outside teams’ broadcast areas)
The Valkyries continue their homestand on Wednesday when they host the Dallas Wings. Their opponents have the same record so far this campaign as they made aggressive moves in free agency this season after building through the draft. This will be the final game of the Commissioner’s Cup for both teams now that they are eliminated from contention for the final game. All of the Western Conference teams will be in action at the same time to close the round-robin, and in the unlikely scenario where the teams above them both lose, the result of this game will determine which one of them wins the tiebreaker and goes to the championship.
The Valkyries
It is another game with a clean initial injury report for the Valkyries as durability continues to be key with this stretch of four games in seven days. This is also the start of a seven-game gauntlet against teams with the same or better records than them right now. Their opponents have generally been starting games with two post players and then shifting to a smaller lineup as needed later in the game so Golden State will have some choices to make in how to defend the various combinations.
The Opposition
The Dallas Wings won the draft lottery for the second straight year, giving them the chance to bring in Azzi Fudd to form a young backcourt duo with Paige Bueckers. The team also made a change at head coach in the offseason, turning to the college ranks to hire Jose Fernandez from South Florida. Those moves set the stage for them push for the playoffs this year as they also brought back guard Arike Ogunbowale and backup post player Li Yueru.
With their backcourt set, Dallas focused their efforts on the frontcourt in free agency, handing contracts exceeding a million dollars per season to Alanna Smith and Jessica Shepard to lure them from Minnesota. Smith has battled an injury and an adjustment period, but Shepard has been one of the breakout stars in the league this season as she has done a little of everything from the post. Dallas signed one of the most experienced players in the league in Alysha Clark for a veteran presence. They also signed Odyssey Sims, who has been with the team multiple times, to give them additional point guard experience, but she is injured and will miss this game.
All of the years spent building through the draft meant that the team still had a number of players under contract. Maddy Siegrist is in the final year of her rookie scale contract and has started a number of games at forward. Aziaha James was one of their draft picks last year and provides backcourt scoring off of the bench. Awak Kuier was drafted back in 2021 and came over immediately despite being raw with limited high-level basketball experience. The timing has not really worked for her to play in the last two seasons, but they gave her a guaranteed contract for this year even with exclusive signing rights and she entered the starting lineup in last game to give them additional height. They waived one player on a rookie deal in JJ Quinerly to add guard experience by bringing in Sug Sutton once she was a free agent. They currently only have one developmental player spot filled by Costanza Verona, Cecilia Zandalasini’s club and national team teammate who is getting her first chance in the league as another point guard candidate.
The Wings come into the game with the exact same record as the Valkyries, although that was not expected to be the case before Monday’s games. They enter this contest having overwhelmed Las Vegas at home, defeating them for the second time this year. They had lost the preceding game, but that came without Bueckers, and their other losses are to Atlanta and Minnesota. It will certainly be a different matchup than the ones between the two teams last year when the Valkyries won three games in a row after losing the first meeting in Arlington.
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