Janelle Salaün scored 21 points to lead the Golden State Valkyries to an overtime win over the Los Angeles Sparks
It wasn’t always pretty, but the Valkyries escaped Los Angeles with a win.
Two days after routing the Las Vegas Aces at home, Golden State notched another impressive victory by defeating the Los Angeles Sparks 89-81 in overtime.
The win kept the Valkyries’ hopes of competing for the Commissioner’s Cup alive as they moved to 2-2 in cup games.
Janelle Salaün led Golden State with 21 points and eight rebounds. Temi Fágbénlé totaled 14 points and 13 rebounds. Carla Leite came off the bench and scored 15 points.
Starting point guard Veronica Burton limped off the floor in the fourth quarter, but returned to close the game and finished with nine points and six assists.
“We didn’t play our greatest half. I thought we played very soft defensively, but we knew what level we had to get to,” Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase said. “We could tell in both the third and fourth quarter, they had each others back. That’s what we’re trying to do. We got to continue to rely on each other and hold each other accountable. So that was really cool to see.”
Sparks star Kelsey Plum totaled 24 points on 7 of 20 shooting. Dearica Hamby scored 20 points, grabbed nine rebounds and dished out six assists.
Los Angeles outscored the Valkyries 25-8 in transition and converted 14 Golden State turnovers to 21 points. But Golden State out rebounded the Sparks 49-34 and scored 46 points in the paint in a gritty win.
“We worked on that,” said Valkyries forward Kayla Thornton, who scored 18 points and grabbed eight rebounds. “Once we get into the paint, our threes start to open up.”
The Valkyries went down four at halftime, but found their groove in the third quarter. Salaün and Fágbénlé combined to score 14 of the Valkyries 25 third-quarter points.
After three periods, the two teams were tied at 65.
Golden State went cold in the final four minutes of the fourth quarter, but two made free throws from Salaün gave the Valkyries a one-point lead with under a minute to go.
On the next possession, Plum got Fágbénlé on a switch and swished a stepback 3-pointer from the right wing that gave the Sparks a 78-76 lead with 36 seconds left.
When Golden State got the ball back, Leite tied the game with a left-handed floater and got a stop on the Sparks’ final possession to force overtime.
In overtime, the two teams played even until the final few minutes. Salaün snagged a key offensive rebound off a Fágbénlé miss and put it back in the basket to put the Valkyries up three with just over two minutes left.
Thornton closed the door on the Sparks after she hit a left corner 3 with 38.1 seconds left to make the score 38.1 seconds left. Burton then knocked down two free throws to ice the game.
“My coach just kept telling me next shot,” Thornton, who scored 10 of her 18 points in the fourth quarter and overtime, said. “I know I can make that shot and I just had to believe in myself and I wouldn’t have made that without my teammates.”
After leading by as much as nine in the second quarter, Golden State couldn’t keep the Sparks from scoring in transition. Los Angeles totaled 16 fast break points in the first half with Hamby getting behind the Valkyries’ defense numerous times or easy layups.
The Sparks closed the final seven minutes of the second quarter on a 15-5 run that gave the home team a 44-40 lead at halftime.
Golden State continued its offensive momentum from the Aces game as they opened Tuesday’s contest with an 11-3 run. Temi Fágbénlé was dominant in the first quarter as she totaled eight points by making four of her first six shots to give the Valkyries a 25-23 lead after the first quarter.
The Valkyries rose to a tie for third in the Commissioner’s Cup standings with the win. Golden State has two more cup games against the Seattle Storm on Saturday and the Dallas Wings next Tuesday to close out the in-season competition.
RevContent Feed
It wasn’t always pretty, but the Valkyries escaped Los Angeles with a win.
Two days after routing the Las Vegas Aces at home, Golden State notched another impressive victory by defeating the Los Angeles Sparks 89-81 in overtime.
The win kept the Valkyries’ hopes of competing for the Commissioner’s Cup alive as they moved to 2-2 in cup games.
Janelle Salaün led Golden State with 21 points and eight rebounds. Temi Fágbénlé totaled 14 points and 13 rebounds. Carla Leite came off the bench and scored 15 points.
Starting point guard Veronica Burton limped off the floor in the fourth quarter, but returned to close the game and finished with nine points and six assists.
“We didn’t play our greatest half. I thought we played very soft defensively, but we knew what level we had to get to,” Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase said. “We could tell in both the third and fourth quarter, they had each others back. That’s what we’re trying to do. We got to continue to rely on each other and hold each other accountable. So that was really cool to see.”
Sparks star Kelsey Plum totaled 24 points on 7 of 20 shooting. Dearica Hamby scored 20 points, grabbed nine rebounds and dished out six assists.
Los Angeles outscored the Valkyries 25-8 in transition and converted 14 Golden State turnovers to 21 points. But Golden State out rebounded the Sparks 49-34 and scored 46 points in the paint in a gritty win.
“We worked on that,” said Valkyries forward Kayla Thornton, who scored 18 points and grabbed eight rebounds. “Once we get into the paint, our threes start to open up.”
The Valkyries went down four at halftime, but found their groove in the third quarter. Salaün and Fágbénlé combined to score 14 of the Valkyries 25 third-quarter points.
After three periods, the two teams were tied at 65.
Golden State went cold in the final four minutes of the fourth quarter, but two made free throws from Salaün gave the Valkyries a one-point lead with under a minute to go.
On the next possession, Plum got Fágbénlé on a switch and swished a stepback 3-pointer from the right wing that gave the Sparks a 78-76 lead with 36 seconds left.
When Golden State got the ball back, Leite tied the game with a left-handed floater and got a stop on the Sparks’ final possession to force overtime.
In overtime, the two teams played even until the final few minutes. Salaün snagged a key offensive rebound off a Fágbénlé miss and put it back in the basket to put the Valkyries up three with just over two minutes left.
Thornton closed the door on the Sparks after she hit a left corner 3 with 38.1 seconds left to make the score 38.1 seconds left. Burton then knocked down two free throws to ice the game.
“My coach just kept telling me next shot,” Thornton, who scored 10 of her 18 points in the fourth quarter and overtime, said. “I know I can make that shot and I just had to believe in myself and I wouldn’t have made that without my teammates.”
After leading by as much as nine in the second quarter, Golden State couldn’t keep the Sparks from scoring in transition. Los Angeles totaled 16 fast break points in the first half with Hamby getting behind the Valkyries’ defense numerous times or easy layups.
The Sparks closed the final seven minutes of the second quarter on a 15-5 run that gave the home team a 44-40 lead at halftime.
Golden State continued its offensive momentum from the Aces game as they opened Tuesday’s contest with an 11-3 run. Temi Fágbénlé was dominant in the first quarter as she totaled eight points by making four of her first six shots to give the Valkyries a 25-23 lead after the first quarter.
The Valkyries rose to a tie for third in the Commissioner’s Cup standings with the win. Golden State has two more cup games against the Seattle Storm on Saturday and the Dallas Wings next Tuesday to close out the in-season competition.