Date, Time, and Location: Wednesday, June 24th, 7:00pm, Chase Center
Broadcast Information: KPYX (San Francisco Bay Area) and KMAX (Sacramento Area), WANF/Peachtree Sports Network/Victory+ (opposition’s broadcast area), USA/CNBC (full national)
The Golden State Valkyries return home for three games starting on Wednesday as they now try to end a losing streak. They host the Atlanta Dream for two games in a row as their tough schedule continues with more championship contenders. The game will be available locally in the broadcast areas of both teams and will also be carried nationally on both USA and CNBC, meaning that it will not be live on WNBA League Pass for those outside the team markets.
The Valkyries
The clean injury reports return for the Valkyries ahead of this game with all players set to be available. This is another opponent that plays a taller lineup for a significant portion of the game so it will be another test for both teams when it comes to matching one another. Laeticia Amihere’s second half minutes in recent games could set her up for earlier time on the floor against the team that let her go last year, which ended up giving her a first opportunity with the Valkyries.
The Opposition
The Atlanta Dream took a step forward last season and further strengthened their roster ahead of this season. The big move was to trade future draft picks to Chicago to bring in Angel Reese while she is still on her rookie contract, which has ended up being extra important this season. They were not active when it came to pursuing free agents from other teams, focusing on retaining their core.
Most of their key players are locked into three-year contracts, starting with Allisha Gray receiving their core designation. Rather than signing an offer sheet with another team, Rhyne Howard went ahead and signed a contract to leave them set at the other wing spot. Brionna Jones returned to start at center, but got injured before the season while being teammates with Janelle Salaun in Europe and has yet to play this season. That injury has left Naz Hillmon as their other starting post player after she increased her role last season. Jordin Canada returned at point guard, but only signed a two-year contract. They had the exclusive signing rights with Sika Kone and she returned after finishing last season with them as a reserve post player.
The Dream had all of their natural draft picks this year and two of them are on the roster. Madina Okot was picked first and gives them extra height at center while Indya Nivar, who started her college career at Stanford, is learning the ropes at point guard. Ran Kejia was the third choice, but she did not sign her contract with the team, opting to take the college route first having just chosen to attend Xavier. Te-Hina Paopao was picked last year and remains a key guard for them off of the bench. Some more bench backcourt scoring in recent games has come from Isobel Borlase, who they picked in 2024 from Australia as she focused on getting ready to contribute in the WNBA when it was time and has hit the ground running.
Besides Jones, Aaliyah Nye will miss the game due to injury having played limited minutes. She was selected by Toronto in the expansion draft from Las Vegas, but ended up being waived in the roster finalization process before Atlanta claimed her. The Dream are using only one of their developmental player spots right now, choosing to sign a player in her prime after Amy Okonkwo had impactful moments in her debut season last year with Dallas. They waived her in training camp and she has not made an appearance since joining her new team.
These two games are the first of a three-game West Coast swing for Atlanta as they will head to Seattle next. They are certainly used to playing the same opponent multiple times in quick succession having a four-game winning streak right now after pairs of wins over Toronto and Indiana in games where they found a good rhythm on offense. They last lost to New York, keeping them out of Commissioner’s Cup contention, but remain tied with the league leader in the loss column.
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