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Valkyries forward Janelle Salaün, who scored 24 points, shoots a 3-pointer over Toronto's Kia Nurse in the first half Sunday at Chase Center. (Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
The Golden State Valkyries have a tendency to struggle at the end of quarters. Coach Natalie Nakase and players speak at length about their desire for the team to play a complete 40 minutes of basketball.
Sunday's late-first half execution offered a perfect test case.
Valkyries 96, Tempo 79
| FG | FT | Reb | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TORONTO | Min | M-A | M-A | O-T | A | PF | PTS |
| Conde | 33:41 | 5-14 | 0-0 | 1-5 | 5 | 2 | 10 |
| Juskaite | 34:44 | 5-7 | 4-6 | 2-4 | 2 | 3 | 15 |
| Sabally | 24:50 | 6-12 | 4-7 | 2-8 | 1 | 4 | 19 |
| Allemand | 33:53 | 4-6 | 0-0 | 0-3 | 6 | 3 | 11 |
| Rice | 26:49 | 6-12 | 4-4 | 2-5 | 3 | 5 | 16 |
| Nurse | 17:15 | 1-4 | 2-2 | 0-0 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| Harrison | 17:03 | 2-9 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| Fagbenle | 10:42 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 1-6 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Key | 1:03 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 1-1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 200:00 | 29-67 | 14-19 | 10-34 | 20 | 21 | 79 |
Percentages: FG .433, FT .737.
3-Point Goals: 7-30, .233 (Allemand 3-5, Sabally 3-5, Juskaite 1-3, Fagbenle 0-1, Rice 0-2, Nurse 0-3, Harrison 0-4, Conde 0-7).
Team Rebounds: 10. Team Turnovers: 1.
Blocked Shots: 1 (Allemand).
Turnovers: 12 (Sabally 3, Conde 2, Rice 2, Allemand, Fagbenle, Harrison, Juskaite, Key).
Steals: 3 (Allemand, Conde, Rice).
Technical Fouls: None.
| FG | FT | Reb | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GOLDEN STATE | Min | M-A | M-A | O-T | A | PF | PTS |
| Thornton | 11:18 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Zandalasini | 15:32 | 2-5 | 2-2 | 0-1 | 5 | 1 | 7 |
| Stokes | 32:17 | 4-6 | 0-0 | 3-11 | 1 | 4 | 8 |
| Burton | 28:46 | 6-10 | 2-3 | 1-2 | 6 | 3 | 17 |
| Williams | 19:18 | 5-11 | 2-2 | 0-2 | 1 | 1 | 15 |
| Salaun | 29:30 | 9-15 | 2-2 | 0-3 | 2 | 4 | 24 |
| Hayes | 20:29 | 4-10 | 6-7 | 0-3 | 4 | 3 | 15 |
| Chen | 20:20 | 1-5 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
| Charles | 17:01 | 1-4 | 2-2 | 0-1 | 2 | 2 | 5 |
| Amihere | 5:29 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 200:00 | 33-67 | 16-18 | 4-26 | 26 | 20 | 96 |
Percentages: FG .493, FT .889.
3-Point Goals: 14-29, .483 (Salaun 4-9, Williams 3-3, Burton 3-4, Charles 1-1, Thornton 1-1, Zandalasini 1-2, Hayes 1-5, Chen 0-2, Stokes 0-2).
Team Rebounds: 9. Team Turnovers: 1.
Blocked Shots: 5 (Stokes 5).
Turnovers: 7 (Burton, Charles, Chen, Hayes, Salaun, Williams, Zandalasini).
Steals: 8 (Hayes 3, Burton 2, Salaun, Stokes, Williams).
Technical Fouls: None.
| Toronto | 20 | 23 | 18 | 18 | - | 79 |
| Golden State | 25 | 19 | 23 | 29 | - | 96 |
A: 18,064 (18,064).
Despite leading the Toronto Tempo 44-33 with 1:53 to go before halftime, Golden State entered the locker room with a one-point lead. Toronto scored 10 unanswered points to close the period, putting a damper on an otherwise strong first half.
The energy inside Chase Center was momentarily zapped. The Valkyries, instead of holding a comfortable lead, allowed the lowly Tempo to remain within arm's reach to open the second half. Toronto even flipped a two-point deficit into a five-point lead midway through the third quarter.
The Tempo seemed poised to hold their lead, but Janelle Salaün had other thoughts.
A banked 15-footer. A 3-pointer. A timely baseline cut leading to a layup plus the foul. A sidestep 3 from the left wing.
Salaün scored 11 third-quarter points, more than half of Toronto's total output in the period. It was a perfect stretch for the sweet-shooting forward, who changed the course of the game and gave the Valkyries a lifeline in an eventual 96-79 win, snapping their two-game skid.
The French forward, who leads Golden State's league-best bench unit, barely sat in the second half. She scored 24 points in a masterful performance, which, combined with strong nights from Veronica Burton and Gabby Williams, helped the Valkyries avoid an ugly loss.
Toronto, which entered on a five-game losing streak, played without All-Star guard Marina Mabrey, who sat out due to a neck injury. Williams, Golden State's All-Star, returned to the lineup after missing Wednesday's game against the Phoenix Mercury due to reconditioning. Nakase said Williams had to ramp up her body after a week of All-Star festivities in Chicago.
The usual purple and black Ballhalla court turned blue Sunday for a Chase Freedom partnership - the Valkyries' first-ever custom court design. The floor will remain in place for Tuesday night's game, also against the Tempo.
Many fans expressed their displeasure online when the court design was unveiled. It didn't seem to affect Golden State's play early on Sunday.
A 5-for-8 start from 3-point range gave the Valkyries a 25-20 lead at the end of the first quarter. The hot shooting extended into a 9-for-16 start, with reserves Salaün, Tiffany Hayes and Kaila Charles contributing four of those makes.
The Valkyries ended the period shooting 52.6% from 3-point range. But much of the good work they did - which resulted in as large as a 13-point advantage - was undone in the quarter's final two minutes when Toronto went on its run.
But luckily for the Valkyries, Salaün came alive. Her 24 points were the second-most of her young career, only rivaling her 26 points scored against the Tempo in these teams' last matchup on July 8.
WIth another comfortable lead, Golden State didn't slip up this time. It won the final quarter handily and earned its 20th win of the season, already just three shy of its 2025 total.
Sunday marked the return of former Valkyrie Temi Fagbenle. The Toronto reserve, who started 38 games with Golden State last year, was the recipient of a pregame tribute video and a loud applause from the Chase Center crowd - as was Warriors forward Draymond Green, who sat courtside and chatted with Warriors and Valkyries owner Joe Lacob.
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There’s more to San Francisco with the Chronicle. Subscribe today for just 25¢.This article originally published at Valkyries top Tempo for 20th victory despite second-quarter letdown.
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