Date, Time, and Location: Wednesday, August 19th, 7:00pm, Chase Center
Broadcast Information: KPYX (San Francisco Bay Area) and KMAX (Sacramento Area), Victory+ (opposition’s home broadcast area), USA (full national)
The Golden State Valkyries finish this homestand on Wednesday when they host the Minnesota Lynx. It will be a battle of the top two teams in the standings as the Valkyries look for their first win against Minnesota yet again. Both teams have not only been excellent all year, but also enter this game on good recent runs. The game will be locally broadcasted by both teams, but will also have full national coverage on USA, which means no out-of-market streaming option on WNBA League Pass.
The Valkyries
Neither team has any injuries to report initially for this game, which gives the Valkyries their full range of options to try and counter the Lynx after two close losses in their first meetings this season. Minnesota has the flexibility to run taller lineups than in previous games, so the volume of smallball lineups that Golden State has deployed in those contests might not be as feasible of an option. The team was able to secure the win on Monday, but probably did not get to rest some of their players as much as they would like to be able to do in most regular season games, especially ahead of this game and the start of the road trip.
The Opposition
Minnesota struggled briefly after winning in San Francisco in mid-June, dropping three out of five games, but went on a ten-game winning streak after that. That run ended only for them to enter this game having won their last four games, continuing on a long road-trip, albeit one with plenty of rest days as they last played in Las Vegas on Saturday. They are two games ahead of the Valkyries in the loss column now, although they have a tough remaining schedule, including hosting the Valkyries next week.
The big difference since the last meeting is that Napheesa Collier is healthy now, giving them back their superstar of recent seasons when they were already a great team. Backup center Dorka Juhasz has also returned after ending her season in Europe with an injury to give them more depth. They have also made other moves in recent months, including shuffling developmental player slots. Eliska Joskova is no longer on such contract with Liatu King in one spot after they waived her. Elena Buenavida signed a contract with them last week and has yet to make an appearance. The Spanish point guard went undrafted in 2024 after multiple attempts to follow through on her college commitment to UCLA. Former Valkyrie Chloe Bibby is also on the team now after they offered a regular contract while she was on a developmental contract with Chicago.
Leave a Reply