San Francisco, CA- The Golden State Valkyries look to bounced back from a tough 0-2 road trip coming into tonight’s game defeating the Phoenix Mercury 87-81.
Before the game, Coach Natalie Nakase called her team out by stating she believes they are only giving “50% effort”.
It seemed those words got through to the players as they started off the game matching Phoenix’s intensity. Trailing 16-10 after giving up a quick 10-2 lead they built, it looked like the Valkryies were about to allow the deficit to grow. Star point guard Veronica Burton had other ideas, leading a 7-0 run fueled by her on-ball offensive creation and aggressive defense that created havoc. The Valkyries weathered the storm and regained a 22-18 lead after 1.
The other member of the Golden State’s backcourt, Gabby Williams when asked about effort, said, “Yea we can’t even… focus on our gameplan if the effort isn’t there.” It seemed she took this to heart as she applied pressure on attacking the rim throughout the game, finishing with a tied-game high of 25 points.
After Gabby hit a 3-pointer to open the third and push the lead to 18, it seemed they were going to run away with it. However, the Mercury led by Alyssa Thomas’s 22p-8r-9a stat line, methodically chipped away at the lead. The comeback peaked at the 51.7 second mark of the 4th quarter when Alyssa hit an and-one to cut the lead to 3. Banking on her claim of giving “100%” Gabby Williams grit showed in the final 50 seconds as she pulled in an offensive rebound and a steal that led to a game sealing free-throw to answer the Mercury scare. They closed the game out 87-81.
Tied with Gabby at a game high 25 points, Veronica was asked on how they are learning to win and not give up leads: “..Composure, I’m going to keep saying that is a big thing.. and that’s only going to continue to grow with experience.” They’ll look forward to gaining more of that experience at home over the next few days, as they play 6 of the next 8 at Chase Center.