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The Golden State Valkyries closed out their road trip 5-0, becoming just the second team in WNBA history to sweep a five-game trip, and beat the Indiana Fever 88-75 on Wednesday for a franchise-record eighth straight win, punctuated by a historic third quarter from Kaitlyn Chen.
Chen scored 12 of her 14 points in a four-minute stretch of the third quarter, a career high for points in a quarter, finishing 5-of-5 from the field to become the first player in WNBA history to score at least 14 points in under 10 minutes of action while shooting 100% on at least five attempts. Gabby Williams, who led Golden State with 16 points, three rebounds, three steals, and a block, said Chen's energy is contagious.
"We have to be the only team that has multiple Sixth Player of the Year options. It's insane. She's just so fun to watch," Williams said. "The way she loves to play the game gets all of us hyped, and we feed off that energy."
Golden State got off to a hot start on an 8-0 run, but Indiana did not let the game get out of reach, with Kelsey Mitchell scoring nine points in the first quarter. Golden State led 20-18 by the end of the period, but grew the lead to 40-30 at halftime. In the third quarter, Indiana briefly took the lead on Sophie Cunningham’s free throws, but Golden State responded well in the third, leading 58-51, and grew its lead in the final quarter.
"Road games are almost always ugly. You're never going to have a game where everything's going in, where you're getting all of the calls, obviously the crowd's not with you," Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase said. "I think us being able to win in these environments just sets us off for the second half of the season, and for the playoffs."
Tiffany Hayes scored 13 points with flawless free throws, Janelle Salaün added 12, Kayla Thornton had 11 points and a team-best eight rebounds, while Cecilia Zandalasini hit two key 3-pointers for 10 points. Kiah Stokes was strong defensively with seven rebounds and two blocks. All ten Valkyries players scored, and their bench outperformed Indiana's reserves 43-21. Nakase emphasized that while the team won, they need to focus on ball security.
"Seventeen turnovers is too many. That's uncharacteristic for us, so we've got to clean that up and clean up our execution in terms of our spacing, press breaks," Nakase said. "We have a lot to get better at rather than looking at a streak right now."
Golden State contained Caitlin Clark, who averages 20.1 points, by holding her to 13 points on 4-of-14 shooting, with seven in the fourth quarter. Clark admitted that a non-call on a knee-to-her-leg in the second quarter initially frustrated her, but she eventually found her rhythm.
"The ref can't miss that, and then I have to play with a contusion in my leg the rest of the game. It's ridiculous," Clark said. "I thought I finally started playing with more pace and more burst in the fourth quarter. Hopefully I don't have to keep playing only 25 minutes."
Mitchell scored 20 points, her eighth straight game with at least 20, tying the sixth-longest streak in WNBA history. Her streak now stands at 39 games, second only to A'ja Wilson's 46. Cunningham made two 3-pointers, moving past Fever coach Stephanie White into 16th on the franchise's all-time list, and recorded four steals.
"We had a long West Coast trip, and I think our legs were a little tired," Cunningham said. "We had a slow start, and our second unit let their second unit get going. I'll own that because we have to come in and set the tone. We just weren't good enough tonight."
Indiana's 75 points were a new season low. White said trying to overcome an early deficit against a team that rarely gives up extra possessions was too costly.
"It's hard when you dig yourself a hole against such a solid defensive team because they don't give you extra possessions very often and they make everything difficult," White said. "We dug ourselves a hole, fought back, dug another hole and fought back again. I thought they were the tougher team tonight."
Indiana hosts the Seattle Storm on Friday and the New York Liberty on Saturday. Golden State returns home to host the Washington Mystics on Saturday.
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Chen scored 12 of her 14 points in a four-minute stretch of the third quarter, a career high for points in a quarter, finishing 5-of-5 from the field to become the first player in WNBA history to score at least 14 points in under 10 minutes of action while shooting 100% on at least five attempts. Gabby Williams, who led Golden State with 16 points, three rebounds, three steals, and a block, said Chen's energy is contagious.
"We have to be the only team that has multiple Sixth Player of the Year options. It's insane. She's just so fun to watch," Williams said. "The way she loves to play the game gets all of us hyped, and we feed off that energy."
Golden State got off to a hot start on an 8-0 run, but Indiana did not let the game get out of reach, with Kelsey Mitchell scoring nine points in the first quarter. Golden State led 20-18 by the end of the period, but grew the lead to 40-30 at halftime. In the third quarter, Indiana briefly took the lead on Sophie Cunningham’s free throws, but Golden State responded well in the third, leading 58-51, and grew its lead in the final quarter.
"Road games are almost always ugly. You're never going to have a game where everything's going in, where you're getting all of the calls, obviously the crowd's not with you," Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase said. "I think us being able to win in these environments just sets us off for the second half of the season, and for the playoffs."
Tiffany Hayes scored 13 points with flawless free throws, Janelle Salaün added 12, Kayla Thornton had 11 points and a team-best eight rebounds, while Cecilia Zandalasini hit two key 3-pointers for 10 points. Kiah Stokes was strong defensively with seven rebounds and two blocks. All ten Valkyries players scored, and their bench outperformed Indiana's reserves 43-21. Nakase emphasized that while the team won, they need to focus on ball security.
"Seventeen turnovers is too many. That's uncharacteristic for us, so we've got to clean that up and clean up our execution in terms of our spacing, press breaks," Nakase said. "We have a lot to get better at rather than looking at a streak right now."
Golden State contained Caitlin Clark, who averages 20.1 points, by holding her to 13 points on 4-of-14 shooting, with seven in the fourth quarter. Clark admitted that a non-call on a knee-to-her-leg in the second quarter initially frustrated her, but she eventually found her rhythm.
"The ref can't miss that, and then I have to play with a contusion in my leg the rest of the game. It's ridiculous," Clark said. "I thought I finally started playing with more pace and more burst in the fourth quarter. Hopefully I don't have to keep playing only 25 minutes."
Mitchell scored 20 points, her eighth straight game with at least 20, tying the sixth-longest streak in WNBA history. Her streak now stands at 39 games, second only to A'ja Wilson's 46. Cunningham made two 3-pointers, moving past Fever coach Stephanie White into 16th on the franchise's all-time list, and recorded four steals.
"We had a long West Coast trip, and I think our legs were a little tired," Cunningham said. "We had a slow start, and our second unit let their second unit get going. I'll own that because we have to come in and set the tone. We just weren't good enough tonight."
Indiana's 75 points were a new season low. White said trying to overcome an early deficit against a team that rarely gives up extra possessions was too costly.
"It's hard when you dig yourself a hole against such a solid defensive team because they don't give you extra possessions very often and they make everything difficult," White said. "We dug ourselves a hole, fought back, dug another hole and fought back again. I thought they were the tougher team tonight."
Indiana hosts the Seattle Storm on Friday and the New York Liberty on Saturday. Golden State returns home to host the Washington Mystics on Saturday.
Continue reading...
