The Golden State Valkyries had their last regular season home game on Saturday, welcoming the Seattle Storm after last hosting them in the team’s lone preseason game. It was another game against a non-playoff team and the Valkyries built up a big lead by halftime. The momentum did not continue in the second half, which was did not allow the team to empty the bench this time, but it was a 70-57 win at the end. There will be two road games to finish out the regular season before their playoff journey starts in San Francisco on Sunday.
The Lineup
There was no difference in player availability for this game so Janelle Salaun, Gabby Williams, and Cecilia Zandalasini remained out and the lineup remained the same. Both teams activated all of their developmental players as there was no late player news for the Storm with Jade Melbourne entering the starting lineup alongside Natisha Hiedeman, Flau’jae Johnson, Awa Fam, and Dominique Malonga. Seattle’s height meant that the Valkyries did not run any smallball lineups and went with groupings that included two post players multiple times.
First Quarter
Seattle missed two free throws on their first possession, which allowed the Valkyries to score the first two baskets. Veronica Burton had the first layup on a tough finish and then Kaila Charles had an open layup once the team secured an offensive rebound. The Storm got their first points on a three-pointer and then Tiffany Hayes answered in transition, but had her foot on the line for just two points. Charles came up with a second steal and was able to finish it herself this time, leading to a Seattle timeout.
The bench made an immediate impact for the Storm with two baskets around a Tiffany Hayes layup. Laeticia Amihere picked up where she left off in the last game when she entered, converting a three-point play and adding two more free throws. Seattle continued to keep it close with points on five straight trips down the floor. Kiah Stokes made a free throw, Juste Jocyte made a three-pointer, and Amihere made a difficult floater for the 21-19 Golden State lead.
Second Quarter
Juste Jocyte’s excellent shooting weekend continued with a three-pointer on the first possession. Tiffany Hayes made a free throw before Seattle scored for the first time and then made her first three-pointer. Laeticia Amihere made a layup in transition after a rather ridiculous pass that ended up going exactly where it needed to for the finish. After the two assists, another long-range make from Jocyte prompted Seattle to take a timeout.
The Valkyries run eventually continued with Kaitlyn Chen’s first basket coming from beyond the arc. Seattle stopped the spurt at 11-0, but Golden State went ahead and had a 9-0 run before the final media timeout. Jocyte made a cut to get open for a layup, Amihere made two more free throws, and Kaila Charles had a layup with a height mismatch followed by her first three-pointer. Seattle did pick up two more free throws, but Charles made another basket and Kiah Stokes made a short bankshot for the 49-25 lead at halftime.
Third Quarter
The start looked promising for the Valkyries in the second half as Veronica Burton made a three-pointer, Kaila Charles followed suit, and Tiffany Hayes stretched the run to 12-0 across the break with a layup. She missed the chance to make it a three-point play and the offense began to cool off for the rest of the game. Seattle’s first basket came from long-range and then there was a timeout when the Valkyries challenged an out-of-bounds call and got it overturned via replay review.
Seattle continued to find rhythm on offense, including some success beyond the arc. Veronica Burton’s free throws were the only Golden State points during their 15-2 surge over a nearly six-minute span. Kaitlyn Chen’s three-pointer and a Charles layup made it look like the Valkyries were finally going to put the game completely out of reach, but the Storm scored the last six points to trail 64-46.
Fourth Quarter
The Valkyries took an early timeout after Seattle got closer with two more three-pointers. Veronica Burton finally got the team on the board with a layup, but they went more than three minutes without points. Seattle only managed three points during that time before Kaitlyn Chen got to her spot for a floater. Neither team had much going for the rest of the game with a Storm basket coming in the final minute after they had emptied their bench being followed by one more Chen floater for the 70-57 final margin.
Player of the Game
The award goes to Kaila Charles for the game as she continued a big stretch of games filling in for missing starters. Her defensive versatility has been on full display as she has been asked to guard key perimeter threats and slide over to smallball power forward depending on the matchups. This ended up being a big scoring and rebounding game for her as well as those defensive playmaking opportunities. Once the regular rotation is back, she will be able to continue to make sure that there is no dropoff defensively in bench-heavy lineups while making the starter-heavy group even more of a menace on that end.
The Verdict
The Valkyries were able to take care of business again even though it was not necessarily as smooth as it could have been in the second half. While the combined minutes load for some players over two days was not ideal, the team does get some rest ahead of a road trip where they will be hoping to be able to get some minutes with their playoff rotation. Games between now and then will determine how much seeding is still in play by the time that they take the court again.
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