SAN FRANCISCO — For the second time this season, the Valkyries put up a valiant effort against the defending champion New York Liberty but couldn’t find a way to win late.
Golden State went tit-for-tat with the Liberty for most of Wednesday’s game, but fell just short in a 81-78 loss.
Kate Martin scored a game-high 21 points for the Valkyries. Her last second heave to tie the game fell short as the Valkyries fell back to .500 at 7-7.
Tiffany Hayes totaled 15 points and Stephanie Talbot had 13.
Breanna Stewart scored 23 points – 21 coming in the first half – and grabbed 10rebounds to lead the Liberty. Walnut Creek native Sabrina Ionescu had 11 points.
Wednesday’s game had an attendance of 18,064, marking the Valkyries’ eighth straight home sellout this season.
The Liberty took a three-point lead into the fourth quarter after a flurry of 3-pointers from Marine Johannes gave the Liberty a slight advantage.
Early in the fourth, it looked like New York was going to pull away as it built a six-point lead with the Valkyries struggling to hit shots.
But Martin kept the Valkyries in the game. The second-year guard hit four 3s as the Valkyries momentarily took a one-point lead.
With under a minute left and down two points, the Valkyries had a shot to tie the game. But Ionescu stripped Hayes and hit two free throws on the other end to make the score 79-75 with 21.1 seconds left.
Martin hit a deep fadeaway 3 to cut the lead back to one, but Ionescu responded with two more free throws to put the Liberty back up three.
On their final possession, the Valkyries had two chances to tie the game. Kayla Thornton’s shot from the right wing misses and Martin’s final shot from 30 feet out didn’t touch the rim as New York escaped with a win.
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Despite Stewart scoring 21 points in the first half, the Valkyries’ kept things close behind a balanced scoring attack from Stephanie Talbot and Tiffany Hayes. Talbot and Hayes combined for 25 points, which included four 3-pointers.
Golden State held Ionescu to 0-for-5 shooting from the field and trailed 46-43 at halftime.
A high-scoring first quarter saw both teams combine to make 10 3s. Golden State made 6 of its 10 shots from beyond the arc to take a 32-29 lead after the first period.
The Valkyries will welcome the Angel Reese and the Chicago Sky in their next game on Friday.