Golden State Postgame Notes: Valkyries 77, Dream 66
WNBA Golden State Valkyries

Golden State Postgame Notes: Valkyries 77, Dream 66

Published on June 25, 2026 under Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)
Golden State Valkyries News Release


By the Numbers

The Valkyries posted their 34th-straight sellout on Wednesday night with 18,064 fans.

Gabby Williams led all players with 23 points on 9-16 (56.3 percent) shooting, and added five rebounds and five assists. It's her career-high fifth 20-point game this season.

Kayla Thornton added 17 points and was 5-10 (50.0 percent) from three, her second game this season with five made threes.

Cecilia Zandalasini scored 14 points and was 4-6 (66.7 percent) from three-point range.

Veronica Burton contributed a team-high seven assists and added eight points.

Laeticia Amihere added two more big blocks and scored six points to go with five rebounds. Amihere was +12 in 13 minutes of action.

Golden State held Atlanta to just 27 first-half points, the fewest scored by the Dream this season, and a season-low 66 points on the night.

The Valkyries had 20 assists on 27 made baskets.

Golden State held Atlanta to just 4-18 from three (22.2 percent). Conversely, the Valkyries went 15-32 (46.9 percent) from beyond the arc, and had four players make multiple threes (Thornton - 5; Zandalasini - 4; Williams - 3; Salaün - 2).

Quotes

HEAD COACH NATALIE NAKASE:

ON KAYLA THORNTON'S PLAY:

"Number one, KT [Kayla Thornton] is maintaining space. It takes a lot of discipline to maintain space, but more importantly, her teammates are finding her and trusting her at the right time. Kasib [Powell] did a great job drawing a couple of sets for her to get some shots, so a combination of her teammates trusting her, and her maintaining space and confidence."

ON LAETICIA AMIHERE'S IMPACT:

"It's huge. LA [Laeticia Amihere] comes with a different bounce, too. That rim protection is pretty lethal. The way she is there, and then as soon as the shot goes up to her quick bounce, she just does an amazing job and does it with authority. A level of different rim protectors from Kiah [Stokes] to KT [Kayla Thornton] to LA, so the fact that we can continue to rotate and cause havoc. But just in terms of the totality that we cannot give them. 42 paint points, so we do have to learn from that. But LA, her energy,and now she's like, 'I want to play again,' and like, I'm like, 'we need to recover.' So now it's getting LA to kind of just take a breath and be disciplined in her recovery."

ON JANELLE SALAÜN'S PRESENCE:

"I thought she did a great job of spacing, picking, and popping, because it kind of surprised them, and then they countered...[Janelle Salaün] is just a lethal weapon of being able to space, but at the same time she does a really good job protecting the paint and communicating in that second line of defense...She does a great job communicating, bringing that physicality, and rebounding, so we have multiple bigs that are super versatile, and that's pretty key."

GOLDEN STATE FORWARDS GABBY WILLIAMS AND KAYLA THORNTON:

ON WHAT WORKED ON OFFENSE:

Williams: "Kayla Thornton, she couldn't miss. Ceci [Cecilia Zandalasini] had some real clutch threes. That's just rising to the occasion...When we come in with a mentality like that, no one can stop us. It's just us, so we just need to stay disciplined, need to know that our energy is our strength, and just stay in that."

ON HER PERFORMANCE TONIGHT:

Thornton: "I just went out there and played free, not overthinking anything, and trusting my teammates, playing for my teammates. When you do that, great things happen."

ON LAETICIA AMIHERE'S PLAY:

Thornton: "Great, she [Laeticia Amihere] did amazing. A player like her, her opportunity came, and she took full [advantage] of it. She came out there and played great, had great blocks, and she just did what she did. I'm very proud of her, and I hope she continues to grow from these games and allows her opportunity to flourish."

Up Next: The Valkyries host Atlanta again Friday, June 26, at 7 p.m. exclusively on ION, 95.7 The Game, and the Audacy App.

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