The Golden State Valkyries got a close look at the WNBA’s elite Saturday night in a 82-71 road loss to the Minnesota Lynx.
Hoping to become the first team to beat Minnesota on its home floor, the Valkyries led 56-54 in the third quarter until the Lynx and MVP candidate Napheesa Collier took over.
The league’s leading scorer at 24.6 points per game, Collier scored 22 points to lead Minnesota, with Courtney Williams adding 15. Minnesota has the league’s best record at 16-2 and is 10-0 at home.
The Valkyries, 9-8, were led Tiffany Hayes with 23 points and Kayla Thornton with 13. It was the first of a four-game road trip for Golden State, which is 2-4 away from Chase Center. The Valkyries play their next three games on the road before returning home.
Golden State tied it 54-54 on a running layup by Tami Fagbenle and then took its first lead since the first quarter at 56-54 on a layup by Stephanie Talbot with 4:42 left in the third quarter. The Lynx, however, pushed their lead back to 69-60 with a 15-4 run over the last four minutes of the quarter.
Minnesota led by as many as 10 points in the first half but the Valkyries closed it to 41-36 when they held the Lynx without a shot on their last possession.
Thornton had 13 points and Hayes 10, with Collier scoring 11 in the first half for Minnesota.
It wasn’t until 7:34 remained in the second quarter that a player other than Thornton or Hayes scored a point. It came when Kate Martin hit a baseline 3-pointer to cut Minnesota’s lead to 31-24. At that point Thornton had 11 points and Hill 10.
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Nakase happy for Vanloo
Guard Julie Vanloo, waived by the Valkyries upon her return from representing Belgium in EuroBasket 2025, was signed by the Los Angeles Sparks, which was good news to Nakase.
“I’m happy for her,” Nakase said. “She deserves to be in this league. I’m just so happy for her and we wish her all the best.”
The Valkyries went 5-2 in Vanloo’s absence.