NFL
By: Ashmere Prasad
July 29 – Atlanta, Georgia
The Valkyries have struggled on the road this season but were able to leave Atlanta with a win thanks to Cecilia Zandalasini’s game-winning shot.
With 3.2 seconds remaining in the fourth, Zandalasini sank a tough pull-up jumper over her defender in their 77-75 victory. Zandalasini hit three triples early on and finished the game 7-of-11 from the field.
a moment for @ceciznd‘s game-winning shot please. pic.twitter.com/j6ah6mhkgr
— Golden State Valkyries (@valkyries) July 30, 2025
With the game tied at halftime, the Valkyries made franchise history with seven made threes in the third quarter, outscoring the Dream by 13 points in the quarter. (Valkyries)
The Valkyries then blew their 13-point lead. But with 19.4 seconds remaining, Zandalasini made a steal, followed by a timeout by Nakase.
“Yeah, just super reliable,” Coach Natalie Nakase said. “I think that’s what I talked about with K.T. (Kayla Thornton), and then now K.T. not being here, Ceci is now someone super reliable down the stretch. I lean to Kasib (Powell), ‘who should I draw this for?’ He goes, ‘Hey, draw for Ceci,’ and sure enough, we drew a play. Everyone kind of either held space or they did what they were supposed to do, so just credit for Ceci, man. That was a big-time shot.”
Golden State has struggled on the road this season, wrapping up their first five-game road series 1-4. After a major 30-point loss on Sunday in Connecticut, the Valkyries did not make any excuses. The team collectively agreed they played some of the worst basketball, far below their standards.
“We know that wasn’t our team, but it happens.” Tiffany Hayes said.
“Things like that happen, but like you said, we responded to that, and that’s what matters, especially with us, so we wanted to learn from that last game, and we did. We came here and we fought until the last buzzer, knowing that it was a hard-fought game.”
Golden State will face the Washington Mystics (13-13) in DC on Thursday, who are currently in 8th place. Washington is coming off a victory against the Chicago Sky (7-19), where their rookie duo Sonia Citron (28 points) and Kiki Iriafen (22 points) had career-high performances.
