Date, Time, and Location: Monday, July 6th, 4:30pm, CareFirst Arena (Washington)
Broadcast Information: KPIX (San Francisco Bay Area) and KOVR (Sacramento Area) and KION (Monterey Bay Area), Monumental Sports Network (opposition’s broadcast area), WNBA League Pass (streaming outside of teams’ broadcast areas)
The Golden State Valkyries have another road game on Monday when they face the Washington Mystics for the first time this season. They will be looking to continue their winning streak in another game against a team currently in one of the playoff places. Their opponents missed the postseason last year, but their young core gained experience over the course of the last season and being able to add even more players has helped them take a step forward so far this year. The game will be locally broadcast, including in the Monterey Bay Area.
The Valkyries
There is a clean initial injury report for the Valkyries again for this game. The two teams met four times last year and Golden State ended up winning all four matchups. The win in the second game of the season was the first win in team history, followed by two narrow wins on the road. The last encounter was near the end of the season and ended up being a blowout that featured the largest team scoring output in a victory all year.
The Opposition
Washington had three early draft picks last year and ushered in a new era based on their young players. Sonia Citron and Kiki Iriafen were the standouts and have continued to lead them this year. Georgia Amoore missed the season due to a training camp injury, but has returned this year while Lucy Olsen continues to play a reserve role at guard. Shakira Austin was the target of an offer sheet from Toronto in the offseason, but the Mystics matched the offer sheet to retain her in free agency. She is one of only two veterans on the team as they signed Michaela Onyenwere to fill out their frontcourt.
The Mystics had six draft picks this year and all of them are on the roster in some capacity. Lauren Betts was the headliner as they added another center and they further strengthened the post position with her UCLA national championship teammate Angela Dugalic. Cotie McMahon has made an impact in the backcourt and Cassandre Prosper has added to the depth at forward. Rori Harmon started the season as the backup point guard, but has seen her playing time decrease recently. Darianna Littlepage-Buggs is their only developmental player right now and she has yet to see her first action. Their other rookie is Alicia Florez, who was undrafted from Spain in 2024 and started in a developmental player spot before getting upgraded to take over the backup point guard role.
The Mystics have won their last two games, which were both at home, to get back to a winning record. Before the Commissioner’s Cup break, they won a wild quadruple-overtime game against Portland before returning to action with a win over Atlanta on Thursday. Citron missed that last game and is listed as questionable on the initial injury report for this game. Their talent has been evident in many games with four wins against teams above them in the standings, but they also have losses against the two teams at the bottom of the standings.
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