Burton and Williams Combine for 50 in 87-81 Win

By: Ashmere Prasad

The Valkyries battled until the final whistle in their 87-81 victory against the Phoenix Mercury on Tuesday night. Veronica Burton scored 19 of her 25 points in the first half and helped Golden State build a comfortable 17-point lead.

Mercury outscored the Valkyries in the third 29-17 and went on an 11-1 run to cut the lead to six points. Janelle Salaun was fouled on the three-point line, which paused the Mercury’s offensive takeover. The Golden State was down to two timeouts they had to save for the fourth quarter. Alyssa Thomas ended the night with a team lead of 22 points, followed by Monique Akoa Makani with 19 points and 3-of-5 from the arc. 

The fourth quarter was fueled by Gabby Williams’ two-way effort and 14 of the team’s 21 points. Williams and Burton controlled the floor for Golden State. They fought through defensive traffic, and Williams continued to drive to the hoop for a layup and or a foul call.

Williams and Burton have built a strong chemistry over their first month together. That connectivity helps Golden State close out tough games, especially ones like this matchup.

“Without knowing each other for a long time, I think we’ve known each other from a distance,” Williams said postgame. “We can relate to one another by the way we’ve both come up through this league and had to fight our way through. I know how to get to her, and she knows what to say to me to help motivate me. I think that’s helped our relationship.”

Nakase on Team Effort

During practice this week, Natalie Nakase said she felt like the team had ‘more effort’ they could put on the floor. We curiously asked in pregame how Nakase and her team measure the team’s effort. She responded that the video team reviews every possession, measures it, and then evaluates it. The process calls out players NOT putting in maximum effort.

When asked about tonight’s effort scale, Nakase’s response was, “I think individually, definitely there was a lot of growth. We did lose a rebounding battle, but they did shoot a lot of threes, which were hard to grab.”

This is definitely something that is going to be followed up on as the season continues, because we are all curious to hear who improves on the effort scale.

The Valkyries visit Seattle this Friday, June 12, to face the Storm at 7 p.m. exclusively on ION and the Audacy App.