The Golden State Valkyries hit the midpoint of their road trip on Wednesday when they visited the Connecticut Sun. Their opponents were coming off of a win on Tuesday even though it had been a tough season for them overall. The Valkyries took the lead early and never looked back, getting their bench plenty of playing time in the second half and keeping all of their rotation players rested for another game tomorrow with the 89-64 final margin.
The Lineup
There was no late player news for the Valkyries so they went with their usual lineup and rotations early. There was room to experiment in this game and they were able to try a taller lineup for a bit, which other playoff teams have started to try more, so it could be an effective counter at some point. Connecticut did not have Brittney Griner or Olivia Nelson-Ododa back, so their starting lineup was Charlisse Leger-Walker, Saniya Rivers, Diamond Miller, Kennedy Burke, and Aaliyah Edwards again. They also signed Hailey Van Lith to a 7-day contract before the game, leaving the teams with only three developmental players between them with everyone active for the game. The margin meant that all players who dressed saw the floor.
First Quarter
Gabby Williams made a three-pointer on the first possession of the game, but the start of the game was slow for both teams as Connecticut scored next. Veronica Burton eventually got the next basket, driving past her defender for the layup. The Sun tied the score on a free throw and a layup before the Valkyries turned to their bench for the first time, getting a three-pointer from Tiffany Hayes. Connecticut scored before the media timeout only to miss free throws to get the lead.
The Valkyries surged when play resumed, getting their own free throws from Kaila Charles, a putback from Laeticia Amihere as she used her height advantage, and a layup from Hayes. Janelle Salaun missed a pair of free throws, but a Burton three-pointer with no defender remotely close to her at the top of the key led to a Sun timeout. Kaitlyn Chen made a layup after stealing the ball to extend the run to 11-0 before Connecticut scored. Charles added another free throw and Salaun completed a four-point play after a replay review confirmed that the defender had a reckless closeout. The Sun also added free throws, but another Chen layup made it a 26-11 lead at the end of the quarter.
Second Quarter
The Valkyries ran a familiar action on their first possession, but tried something different out of it as Veronica Burton got the ball in the post and made a quick turnaround jumper. Connecticut went on a quick run with a three-pointer and three-point play, leading to the early Golden State timeout. They responded with a Gabby Williams three-pointer before she found Amihere for a transition layup after coming up with a steal. The Sun did continue to build some momentum on offense, coming away with points on four straight trips down the floor, but Janelle Salaun had two makes from beyond the arc.
The starters returned and Burton made a layup before Sun free throws. Cecilia Zandalasini went on a personal 7-0 run with free throws, a three-point play, and one of her trademark mid-range jumpers. The Valkyries made it seven possessions in a row with a point and a 14-0 run to close the half with Kiah Stokes getting in on the action with a layup and a three-pointer from the corner before a Williams layup provided the 55-27 halftime score.
Third Quarter
The Sun showed some signs of life early again when they scored on their first two possessions of the half. Gabby Williams made a free throw to get the Valkyries on the board, which Connecticut matched, and Kiah Stokes got the first field goal after finding a path into the paint. Some of the starters were able to make their exit right after this point and rest for the remainder of the night as the Sun did have a high-scoring quarter, but never really made the margin closer.
Kaila Charles returned to make a layup and Veronica Burton converted a three-point play. Kaitlyn Chen added another layup and Janelle Salaun’s three-pointer meant that the Valkyries offense was also humming. She scored next as well with Charles also making a midrange shot. Juste Jocyte entered for her first extended playing time and found Charles for a layup, doing the same later on an even more impressive pass. Chen scored the last four points of the quarter with another one of her floating finishes and two free throws for the 80-52 lead.
Fourth Quarter
It was all bench players for the Valkyries in the final quarter as Connecticut once again did not threaten the overall lead. The start was promising as Juste Jocyte found Nadia Fingall this time for another impressive assist. Fingall got into the act by passing to Kaila Charles for a three-pointer and then Jocyte called her own number and made the foul-line jumper. The offense then sputtered with some turnover issues as they went nearly six minutes without scoring until Fingall crashed the boards after another miss and made the putback. It was a similar story for the rest of the game, but the Sun did not get much scoring either and the final score was 89-64.
Player of the Game
This was another game where lots of players had strong performances with the added benefit of getting everyone tons of rest. The award will go to Janelle Salaun for some key three-pointers that were part of putting the game out of reach. She was able to return for the four-point play after stepping on her defender’s foot and answered Connecticut baskets twice in the second quarter when they cut the deficit to eleven points. She continues to bring in the firepower off of the bench and in recent games has been brought in even earlier if a change is needed.
The Verdict
This was very much the ideal game for the Valkyries as the game was never in doubt after the lead was built up in the first quarter. Both the offense and defense were at their best in the first half and it was clear that the team would be on cruise control in the second half. Rotation players got substantial rest for the start of the back-to-back and the deep bench got their chance to impress. With all of the games after tomorrow being against non-playoff teams, any other opportunities to win games in this fashion will be big for the team in closing out the regular season.
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