First Round, Game 1: Golden State Valkyries at Minnesota Lynx - Postgame Notes
WNBA Golden State Valkyries

First Round, Game 1: Golden State Valkyries at Minnesota Lynx - Postgame Notes

Published on September 14, 2025 under Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)
Golden State Valkyries News Release


Golden State 72, Minnesota 101

By the Numbers

Veronica Burton scored 14 points and made a postseason career high three three-pointers. Burton also added seven assists and three steals, and was a perfect 5-5 from the line.

Cecilia Zandalasini returned to the starting lineup and scored 14 points, and was 7-7 from the free-throw line.

Janelle Salaün went 3-7 (42.9 percent) from deep for 13 points while recording six rebounds.

Temi Fágbénlé had 12 points on 62.5 percent (5-8) shooting from the field.

Kate Marten added 11 points off the bench, and knocked down a pair of threes.

Golden State shot 50.0 percent (9-18) in the first for 28 points. Fágbénlé and Salaün each scored eight points in the first quarter.

The Valkyries had 17 assists on 20 made baskets.

Golden State went 23-27 (85.2 percent) from the free-throw line, with three players perfect from the stripe (Burton, Carla Leite and Zandalasini).

Quotes

HEAD COACH NATALIE NAKASE:

ON WHAT ADJUSTMENTS CAN BE MADE FOR GAME TWO:

"Yeah, I can't tell you that right now. I already told them what we're going to do. But recovery is key. But they did their job. They're supposed to win here at home. Now we get to go home, now we get to go to Ballhalla in front of our amazing fans and play with the love and support that we always have. And we've got to do our job. So we'll make the adjustments as is, but we just got to make sure through these momentum killers, like how can we be more effective or how can it be more fair?"

ON LIMITING MINNESOTA IN THE PAINT:

"We have to loosen it up. But a lot of that came in the second half in transition, us not taking care of the ball. So, we got to do a better job of taking care of the ball. We got to do a better job of that."

GOLDEN STATE GUARDS VERONICA BURTON AND FORWARD CECILIA ZANDALASINI

ON WHAT HAPPENED AFTER THE STRONG FIRST QUARTER:

Burton: "I think we had a pretty good first half. They are a very good team, so if you want to beat them, we have to be consistent. Our game is a 40-minute game, and I think we just played a solid half, but we need the second half as well. So that's what we're gonna focus on going into the next one."

ON HOW THEY CAN BOUNCE BACK ON WEDNESDAY"

Burt "I mean, you feel it. You get frustrated with the things that we didn't execute on, but it's a series for a reason. It's 1-0. They were supposed to win at home, they're the one seed, and it's a home game, so they did what they were supposed to do, and now it's our turn to do that at home and just learn from it. It's not easy. They're a good team, but if you get too wrapped up in this loss, then it'll be over before you know it. So, just move on."

ON WHAT WAS DIFFERENT PLAYING MINNESOTA:

Burton: "They hit big-time shots. I wouldn't say they came out necessarily any differently, especially in the first half, first quarter. We came out, we matched them, we exceeded them. But again, they don't let up. That's the difficult part with them, is they're all so deep and there's just no drop-off. So with us, it's limiting our mistakes, limiting our turnovers. Seven turnovers for me is way too many; and so just giving them extra possessions, giving them extra opportunities where we don't need to. I think that's what we need to limit, and just getting good-quality shots on offense inside of the basketball, it's a big thing for us."

Up Next

Golden State hosts the Lynx for Game 2 on Wednesday, September 17 at 7 p.m. PT at SAP Center on ESPN, 95.7 The Game, and the Audacy App.

Check out the Golden State Valkyries Statistics

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