Valkyries hit new highs in win over lowly Connecticut Sun

The second-year Golden State Valkyries keep clearing hurdles that have never been scaled in the history of the WNBA.

They did it again Friday night.

Across the country from Ballhalla, against an opponent with the league’s worst record, the Valkyries became the fastest WNBA expansion franchise to 40 victories.

They needed just 68 games over two seasons to hit the mark.

That was among the bullet points in their 79-64 victory over the Connecticut Sun, an outcome that extended Golden State’s franchise-record win streak to seven games, including the first four in a five-city trip that concludes Wednesday at Indiana.

The Valkyries overcame a rough start on a night in which their All-Star forward, Gabby Williams, was ruled out before tip-off because of a back injury that sidelined her in the fourth quarter of the team’s win in Toronto on Wednesday.

Connecticut, which fell to 5-18, stormed to a 9-2 lead in the opening minutes and maintained an advantage into the second quarter even though its leading scorer on the season, center Brittney Griner, missed her second consecutive game because of a quad strain.

But the Valkyries’ highly touted defense eventually put a grip on the home team, and Golden State grabbed its first lead, 24-23, when Kaila Charles drove for a layup.

The visitors led 30-25 at halftime.

Connecticut kept the margin within single digits for nearly all of the third quarter, but Veronica Burton closed the period with an up-and-under layup as time expired to give Golden State a 54-44 cushion heading into the final 10 minutes.

The Valkyries put the score out of reach when Charles and Burton made back-to-back 3-pointers to widen the lead to 60-44 with 7:19 to play.

Burton had a superb game against her former team, finishing with 17 points, six assists, three rebounds, two blocks and a steal. The Valkyries are undefeated this season when the point guard has at least six assists.

Golden State’s bench contributed 42 points, seven more than its league-high season average. Janelle Salaun led the reserves with 16 points, seven rebounds, and three steals. Laeticia Amihere added six points, five rebounds, three blocks and three assists. The Valkyries also got nine points from Tiffany Hayes and eight from Kaitlyn Chen.

Williams, meanwhile, gave the team a boost from the bench.

“Gabby is still going to contribute, and she still helped us,” Burton said. “She was one of the loudest people throughout the entire game. With that … it’s a next-man-up mentality. There is not necessarily any drop-off. We find different ways to win, and we just rely on every single person on this team.”

With the win, Golden State is the first to 17 victories this season, as the result on Friday improved its record to 17-7, tying the Valkyries with Las Vegas and Minnesota (both 16-6) for the league’s top mark.

How has Golden State done it?

It starts with “high-character” players the front office brought in, coach Natalie Nakase said, noting that everyone has accepted their roles, some more challenging than others.

“The best thing about our team is we have a selfless team that understands matchups,” Nakase said. “Having a deep bench was intentional. But it also comes with the humility that each player has to have that sometimes they can start, sometimes they’ll have a night, sometimes they might not start, sometimes they might not have a night.

“This is a very special group. I am not going to take this group for granted at all because they have meshed a lot better together than I anticipated.”

But even with far more highs than lows, the Valkyries are not a finished product in the eyes of their coach. Nakase noted the team’s slow starts in its previous two games, against Washington and Toronto, and stressed stronger consistency.

The Valkyries had another rough start on Friday.

Afterward, Nakase pointed to fatigue caused by an extended period on the road.

“We lost our vocalness in the first quarter, so I wasn’t really happy with that,” she said. “When you’re tired, the first thing that goes is the mind and they stop talking. We found pockets tonight of when we were very, very connected. But I need to see some rest. They deserve it. Four games in seven days and the emptying-the-tank mentality, I saw a lot of consistency there. But this game was really tough. Credit to Connecticut.”