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Posts tagged as “Golden State Valkyries”

Burton, Williams lead the way as Valkyries hold off Clark, Fever in 90-88 win  

May 30, 2026

By AP on ESPN;

Veronica Burton had 25 points, six rebounds and a career-best five blocked shots, Gabby Williams added 19 points, six rebounds and six assists, and the Golden State Valkyries beat Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever 90-88 on Thursday night.

Clark’s 3-pointer with 3:55 to play pulled Indiana to 81-80 and Aliyah Boston put the Fever ahead with a jumper the next time down. But Clark turned the ball over with 1:32 left and her team trailing by three then again with 1:06 to go before missing a 3 with 40 seconds remaining.

Indiana had another chance with 24.8 seconds left and Sophie Cunningham scored on an uncontested layup. Williams missed the first of two free throws on the other end. Boston missed a turnaround jumper as the final buzzer sounded — sending the celebratory sellout home crowd into a frenzy.

As bad as Caitlin was in this game, the Fever are still in this game thanks to Indiana’s bench lead by Sophie Cunningham with 11 points and Raven Johnson, who scored a career high of 16 points.

Game highlights;

The Golden State Valkyries pull away at the end to defeat the Indiana Fever 90-88 🙌

Veronica Burton: 25 PTS | 6 REB | 5 BLKS (career-high) | 3 AST
Janelle Salaün: 19 PTS | 7 REB | 3 AST | 3 3PM
Gabby Williams: 19 PTS | 6 REB | 6 AST | 3 STL

Indiana Fever will travel to Portland for its second road game, while the Golden State Valkyries host the Las Vegas Aces for the second game of their three-game homestand.

Fever Heat Up: Clark and Boston Dominate Third Quarter to Halt Surging Valkyries, 90-82

May 23, 2026

INDIANAPOLIS — There is a distinct, rhythmic roar that echoes through Gainbridge Fieldhouse when the Indiana Fever find their transition groove, and the Golden State Valkyries found themselves squarely on the wrong end of it.

Behind a masterful balancing act from their cornerstone tandem of Caitlin Clark and Aliyah Boston, the Fever weathered a fierce second-quarter storm to secure a hard-fought 90-82 victory over the WNBA’s sophomore franchise. The win pushes Indiana to a promising 4-2 start for the 2026 season—their best opening six-game stretch since 2012, the year where they won the championship.

For a moment, it looked like the Valkyries were going to pull off a massive upset. Lead by the veteran savvy of Tiffany Hayes (19 points) and a brilliant spark from rookie sensation Kaitlyn Chen (18 points off the bench), Golden State staged a relentless 26-18 second-quarter run. They walked into the locker room at halftime holding a comfortable seven-point cushion and all the momentum.

But the third quarter belonged entirely to Indiana.

Adjusting to Golden State’s suffocating defensive traps, Clark began carving up the perimeter, scoring eight points in the frame while dishing out laser-focused assists. Meanwhile, Boston anchored the interior, punishing the Valkyries in the paint. Indiana flipped the script with a crushing 29-17 third-quarter surge, establishing a lead they would never relinquish.

Inside the Box Score

Player Points Rebounds Assists Key Stat
Caitlin Clark (IND) 22 2 9 4-of-9 from three-point range
Aliyah Boston (IND) 20 16 3 Labeled 42nd career double-double
Kelsey Mitchell (IND) 19 0 3 Flawless 11-of-11 from the free-throw line
Tiffany Hayes (GSV) 19 2 2 Shot 7-of-13 from the field
Kaitlyn Chen (GSV) 18 1 0 Provided instant offense in 19 minutes

Rewriting History

The night wasn’t just a win in the standings; it was another milestone evening for Indiana’s foundation pieces.

With her bruising 20-point, 16-rebound performance, Aliyah Boston secured her 42nd career double-double, tying legend Elena Delle Donne for the 34th most in WNBA history. Simultaneously, Clark’s 9-assist showcase inches her closer to smashing Sue Bird’s historic record as the fastest player to hit 1,000 points and 500 career assists.

“Yeah, it was definitely really physical, too. Um, and they’re a really good team and they’re really good defensively and we battled and I thought we played really great defense, especially in the second half and um thought we got off to a good start, then we kind of dropped a little bit and then the second half was really really good and kind of powered us through.” Clark said postgame. “But for me personally, like it was definitely good to, you know, see my first two shots go in and then kind of go from there.”

When the Valkyries intentionally fouled late to stop the clock, Kelsey Mitchell put on a masterclass in ice-cold execution. Mitchell went a perfect 11-for-11 from the charity stripe, shutting the door on any hopes of a Golden State comeback.

Game highlights;

What’s Next

The Valkyries (3-2) will have another shot at the Fever as they face them on the 28th of May at the Bay Area for a 4-game homestand.

Golden State Valkyries waived Kate Martin

May 7, 2026

The Golden State Valkyries waived Kate Martin on May 7, 2026, as the expansion franchise finalized its inaugural 12-player roster. Martin’s professional journey began on 2024 Draft Day, where she was selected 18th overall by the Las Vegas Aces while attending the event as a spectator to support teammate Caitlin Clark.

During her 2024 rookie season with the Aces, Martin became a fan favorite, appearing in 34 games and contributing to the team’s deep playoff run. She joined Golden State via the 2025 Expansion Draft, where she averaged 6.2 points per game before a quad injury hampered her 2026 preseason.

Here is the 2025 WNBA Playoff Bracket

September 12, 2025

WNBA just concluded their regular season with all the seedings completed. Below are your WNBA Playoff Bracket for the 1st round of the WNBA Playoff.

1 – Minnesota Lynx vs 8 – Golden State Valkyries
2 – Las Vegas Aces vs 7 – Seattle Storm
3 – Atlanta Dream vs 6 – Indiana Fever
4 – Phoenix Mercury vs 5 – New York Liberty

Round One of the WNBA Playoffs will kick off this Sunday, Sept. 14th. It will be a best-of-three-game series, the 2nd round will be a best-of-five, and the Finals is a best-of-seven-game series.

WNBA Draft will be this April 14th

March 13, 2025

WNBA has announced that their annual draft will be this 14th of April at The Shed in New York City. WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert will announce the draft picks live on ESPN with exclusive coverage beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET.

The first 5 draft picks will be;
1 – Dallas Wings
2 – Seattle Storm
3 and 4 – Washington Mystics
5 – Golden State Valkyries

UConn Guard Paige Bueckers and Olivia Miles of Notre Dame are projected to be the top two picks of the draft, that is if they decide to go pro this year and give up their final year of college eligibility.

Complete result of Golden State Valkyries 2024 WNBA Expansion Draft

December 11, 2024

The results of the 2024 WNBA Expansion Draft presented by State Farm are as follows:

Player Former Team Pos Ht Yrs College/Country
Iliana Rupert Atlanta Dream C 6-4 3 France
Maria Conde Chicago Sky F 6-1 0 Florida State/Spain
Veronica Burton Connecticut Sun G 5-9 3 Northwestern
Carla Leite Dallas Wings G 5-9 0 France
Temi Fagbenle Indiana Fever C 6-4 4 USC/United Kingdom
Kate Martin Las Vegas Aces G 6-0 1 Iowa
Stephanie Talbot Los Angeles Sparks F 6-2 6 Australia
Cecilia Zandalisini Minnesota Lynx F 6-2 3 Italy
Kayla Thornton New York Liberty F 6-1 9 Texas-El Paso
Monique Billings* Phoenix Mercury F 6-4 7 UCLA
Julie Vanloo Washington Mystics G 5-8 1 Belgium

I’m not surprise that Kate Martin was picked up by the Golden State, it will be more beneficial for her to be with the Valkyries than stay with the Aces, since she will have more playing time with her new team. The shocking draft for me is Temi Fagbenle, since she’s been playing well and have good chemistry with Caitlin Clark, one could just assume that she will be protected by Indiana.

WNBA to change Game Format of Playoffs and Finals of 2025 Season

October 12, 2024

WNBA just announcedx that they will change the game format of First Round of the WNBA Playoffs and the WNBA Finals.

The league said “the WNBA Board of Governors has approved a new, best-of-seven format for the WNBA Finals presented by YouTube TV, effective with the 2025 season, replacing the best-of-five format. The Board has also approved a 1-1-1 setup for the best-of-three First Round of the WNBA Playoffs presented by Google, with the higher seed hosting Games 1 and 3 and its opponent hosting Game 2 – a change from the higher seed hosting Games 1 and 2 and its opponent hosting Game 3.”

Currently, the First Round of the WNBA Playoffs is 2-1. From a financial perspective, the current 2-1 format benefits the higher-seeded team. This is because they host the entire first round, assuming they sweep the series. This gives them an advantage in ticket sales, broadcast revenue, and other game-related income.

A good example, is the first round series between the Connecticut Sun and the Indiana Fever. The Fever got swept in the series, since the first two games was hosted by the Sun, both games got an attendance of total of 17,820. If there was at least 1 game being played in Indiana, them being the most popular team because of Caitlin Clark, we can assume that the attendance will be similar to their last home game in the regular season, with an attendance of 17,274.

The WNBA announced an increase in regular-season games to 44 per team starting next season, up from 40 games in the past two seasons. This is to accommodate the addition of the Golden State Valkyries as the league’s 13th franchise. Each WNBA Teams have played 40 regular-season games in each of the last two seasons.

“We are seeing an incredible demand for WNBA basketball, as reflected in the number of cities pursuing expansion franchises, fans attending games and engaging with our social and digital platforms in record fashion, and game broadcasts and streams being consumed like never before,” said WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert. “The incredible demand for WNBA basketball makes this the ideal time to increase the regular season to 44 games per team and expand the WNBA Finals presented by YouTube TV to a best-of-seven series,” said WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert. “These changes will create more opportunities to watch the best players in the world compete at the highest level and give our fans a championship series format that they are accustomed to seeing in other sports.”