Golden State Valkyries Daily
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Valkyries Daily: A Franchise-Record Shutdown in D.C.

Golden State held Washington to 49 points, sits third in the WNBA at the break, and now turns to a road tilt in Toronto.

Last night: Valkyries 62, Mystics 49

Golden State won its fifth straight game Monday night, beating Washington 62-49 at CareFirst Arena. It was a game the Valkyries won with their teeth instead of their jump shots. The Mystics shot 30 percent from the field and 3 of 24 from three, both season lows allowed by Golden State, and the 49 points were the fewest the Valkyries have given up in their two-year history, per the Associated Press recap.

The game was tight through a low-scoring first half, with Washington actually leading 33-31 at the break, then Golden State turned a jog into a rout. The Valkyries outscored Washington 19-7 in the third quarter to go up 50-40, and the Mystics managed just nine points in the fourth. Kaitlyn Chen led everyone with 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting in 21 minutes off the bench, part of a 39-point night for Golden State's reserves. Kaila Charles added 8 points and 5 rebounds, and Tiffany Hayes chipped in 9. Golden State's starters were quiet by design and by circumstance: Veronica Burton topped the group with just 7 points, a sign of how much of the offense ran through the bench once the game turned into a slog. Kiki Iriafen (12 points, 9 rebounds) and Shakira Austin (11 and 11) did what they could for Washington, which was missing starter Sonia Citron for a second straight game with a knee injury.

The win was Golden State's eighth in its last 10 games and pushed the record to 15-7.

Film room: how a track meet became a slog

Before the game, coach Natalie Nakase talked about Saturday's win over Atlanta, when Golden State hit 13 threes despite extra defensive attention, telling reporters: "Just our extra passing. We're sharing the ball more. So when we share the ball more, it creates more closeouts for us to get to the rim." Monday's game showed the same principle running in reverse, on defense.

The number that stands out from the box score is 24, as in 24 three-point attempts by Washington, only 3 of which fell. That is not an accident of a cold night. It is the fingerprint of a defense built to run shooters off the line late and live with the results. Golden State finished with 10 steals and 5 blocks while forcing 14 Washington turnovers, more than double its own total of 5. A defense that generates that much disruption is not sitting back, it is closing out hard and daring shooters to put the ball on the floor into traffic, where Kiah Stokes and Golden State's rotating cast of rim protectors are waiting. The result: Washington's 30 percent shooting was its worst mark of the season, and Golden State's 102.3 defensive rating, already second in the league entering the night, got another data point in its favor.

Standings: third place, one game back

Through Monday's games, the top of the WNBA looks like this:

  1. Minnesota Lynx, 15-5
  2. Las Vegas Aces, 15-6 (0.5 games back)
  3. Golden State Valkyries, 15-7 (1.0 game back)
  4. Dallas Wings, 13-8 (2.5 back)
  5. New York Liberty, 13-8 (2.5 back)
  6. Indiana Fever, 12-8 (3.0 back)
  7. Atlanta Dream, 12-9 (3.5 back)

Golden State owns the best home record in the league at 10-3 and leads the WNBA in made threes, a combination that has it firmly in the championship conversation at the season's halfway point, per the San Francisco Standard. The Valkyries are still 0-2 against Minnesota this season and have generally struggled against the Lynx and Aces, the two teams ahead of them.

Roster report: a clean bill of health

No game tonight. Golden State's next tip is Wednesday. The good news in the meantime: the injury report is close to empty. The only Valkyries player listed as out is Iliana Rupert, sidelined for the season for a non-injury reason (pregnancy), a situation in place since the spring. Everyone else who has played recently, including Tiffany Hayes and Cecilia Zandalasini, both of whom missed time earlier this year, is available. Kayla Thornton, back from the torn meniscus that ended her 2025 season early, has been a full go all year and is averaging 8.8 points in a frontcourt rotation that now runs 10 deep.

Up next: Wednesday at Toronto

Golden State plays the second-year Tempo (9-11) on Wednesday at Coca-Cola Coliseum in Toronto. Tip is 4:00 p.m. Pacific (7:00 p.m. Eastern), broadcast in the Bay Area on KPIX and in Sacramento on KOVR, with League Pass streaming available everywhere else. Toronto leans on guard Marina Mabrey, averaging 21.2 points a game, and gives up 91.9 points a night, the second-worst mark in the league. That is a matchup that favors a Golden State defense that has held opponents under 70 points three times in its last eight games.

League notebook

Gabby Williams became the Valkyries' first-ever All-Star Game starter on July 2, when commissioner Cathy Engelbert called with the news. Williams is averaging a career-high 15.8 points on a career-best 35.3 percent from three, to go with 1.5 steals a game. "I didn't come to the Valkyries to be an All-Star," Williams said. "Those things are just the product of everything that we do every day... I feel whole." Kayla Thornton was the franchise's first All-Star, as a reserve last season.

Separately, Nakase will coach for Team USA this September. She was named an assistant on Kara Lawson's staff for the FIBA Women's World Cup back in May, alongside Phoenix's Nate Tibbetts and Indiana's Stephanie White. The tournament runs September 4-13 in Berlin.

Around the league, the MVP race remains A'ja Wilson's to lose. She leads the WNBA in scoring at 25.7 points a game despite missing three games with a foot injury, and Las Vegas coach Becky Hammon has said Wilson could have played through it if these were playoff games, according to a midseason ladder from Sporting News published Monday. Minnesota rookie Olivia Miles sits second on that same ladder. More broadly, the AP reported Monday that the league is dealing with an injury crunch: both Wilson and Indiana's Caitlin Clark are nearing returns, while Los Angeles guard Kelsey Plum, out with a lower left leg injury, will not be reevaluated until late July around the All-Star break.

Business of Ballhalla

Golden State has sold out every regular-season home game in franchise history, a streak that includes the WNBA's all-time single-season attendance record set in its 2025 debut (397,408 fans, an 18,064 average). The franchise's brand launch also picked up a Silver Effie award, announced June 18, with the team citing 12,000 season tickets sold this year and a $1 billion valuation, the highest of any women's sports franchise.