Date, Time, Location: Wednesday, September 17th, 7:00pm PDT, SAP Center
Broadcast Information: ESPN, KGMZ (radio), multiple affiliates (opposition’s local markets radio)
The Golden State Valkyries host a playoff game for the first time in franchise history on Wednesday and will play in San Jose for the first time when the Minnesota Lynx visit. Having lost the first game, the Valkyries need a win in order to force a deciding game on Friday back in Minneapolis. While it will certainly be an unfamiliar environment for everyone, the atmosphere will certainly carry over even as a number of tickets remain available for the historic occasion. As was the case on Sunday, ESPN has the full national broadcast and the tipoff is in reality going to happen after the top of the hour with the earlier game also possibly bleeding into the time and forcing the start to another ESPN channel.
The Valkyries
There is no late injury news that would mean that Tiffany Hayes is ready to go so everything will be the same in terms of a player availability and lineups for this game. Golden State opted to start with a smallball lineup in the last game with Cecilia Zandalasini fully integrated back into the rotation. With all hands on deck and the team trying to sustain energy for the entire game after struggling to keep up with the Lynx late, there could be more substitutions in the first half this time and a mix of the smallball and double-post lineups.
The Opposition
Minnesota continues to have a fully healthy roster available, but in the last game, they did not use much of their bench in the first half. DiJonai Carrington played well when she made her return from injury in the second half so they should have more flexibility in deploying smallball lineups, especially if one of their other rotation players is not contributing as much. Natisha Hiedeman has been particularly dangerous as their other guard off of the bench and the Valkyries will need to match the intensity when she and Jessica Shepard enter the game.
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