Golden State Valkyries (1-1) vs. Washington Mystics (2-1) Postgame Notes

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WNBA Golden State Valkyries

Golden State Valkyries (1-1) vs. Washington Mystics (2-1) Postgame Notes

May 22, 2025 - Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)
Golden State Valkyries News Release


By the Numbers

The victory is the first in Golden State Valkyries history, and for head coach Natalie Nakase at the helm of the Valkyries.

Veronica Burton set career highs in points (22) and rebounds (9). The Northwestern product also added five assists and two steals, and banked in a buzzer-beating three to give Golden State a 31-30 lead at the half.

Kayla Thornton posted 18 points and five rebounds, and was a perfect 6-for-6 from the line.

Janelle Salaün scored 13 seconds in, and tallied 10 points in the contest.

Carla Leite added 10 points off the bench, and Temi Fágbénlé had seven rebounds and a career-high four steals.

The Valkyries posted their second sellout in as many games with an attendance of 18,064.

Golden State drew a sellout attendance of 18,064 in its inaugural home opener against Los Angeles on May 16, which was the second-highest attendance by a WNBA team in their first-ever home game (Washington Mystics - 20,674 on 6/19/1998)

Tiffany Hayes left the game with 3:43 left in the second quarter after sustaining a nose injury and is undergoing further evaluation.

Quotes

HEAD COACH NATALIE NAKASE

ON WHAT THIS VICTORY MEANS FOR THE FRANCHISE AND HERSELF:

"It's more credit to the players and my staff, this definitely wasn't just me or about me. Our defense, in terms of the calls Kasib (Powell) was making defensively, he was giving a lot of important, timely defensive coverages. So again, just credit to our whole staff, credit to our players for stepping up. I mean, it's not about me, it's about everyone."

ON VERONICA BURTON'S CAREER NIGHT AFTER TIFFANY HAYES LEFT THE GAME:

" Yeah, I mean, just credit again to all her hard work. She's been working really hard, she was the one that came early to camp, really early, so just credit to her. Her sacrifice to put in the work, believing in herself, was huge, and then we just talked about the point guards. Her, Julie (Vanloo), and Carla (Leite), 'you guys were gonna have to step up this game and keep us organized,' and she just did exactly that."

ON THE IMPROVEMENTS IN THE FOURTH QUARTER:

"Yeah, we talked about, like I said, attention to detail to the game plan, and we just made a lot of, I would say, intentional preparation and shoot-around today, just to make sure, like, we're all on the same page. My gut feeling, and I told my staff, I'm like, 'this is gonna go down to the wire.' I go, 'I don't know what it is but we're probably gonna have a close game,' and so luckily, all the coaches, we actually met for an extra hour, and just made sure we're prepared on any level."

GUARD VERONICA BURTON AND FORWARD KAYLA THORNTON

ON VERONICA BURTON'S CAREER-HIGH NIGHT:

Veronica Burton: "Yeah, obviously, I'm grateful to see the ball go in, and go through the net, but huge shout out to my teammates and coaches that just continue to emphasize, you know, letting the ball fly. We're in the gym, we practice them, so to see them go in when it counts, it's fun."

ON OVERCOMING SLOW STARTS:

Kayla Thornton: "Yeah, I mean, we're still learning each other. I think this is our first game where we kind of hit adversity where our shots weren't hitting, but we just stick with it. And I'm just like so proud of our team because we could have just folded, you know, could have made an excuse 'cause we're a young team, we don't know the system,' but we just pushed through and everybody contributed to this win tonight. So, I'm just proud of everybody."

ON WHAT THEY WILL REMEMBER FROM THE VALKYRIES' FIRST FRANCHISE WIN:

Kayla Thornton: "I just think our relentlessness on defense, on offense. Us sticking to the game plan. Definitely the energy from the crowd. They definitely helped us because we was kind of feeling it, but they pushed us through it and then, just everybody coming off the bench, the starters, everybody just locking in and just, you know, just saying we got to get it done."

ON THE ENERGY FROM THE CROWD IN THE FINAL MINUTES:

Kayla Thornton: "Yeah, I mean, it was electric, like I said earlier. They helped us. They were our sixth man tonight, and I'm just so grateful for the fans that we have. And I just [urge them to continue] to come out and support us each and every night that we step on that floor."

Up Next

Golden State tips off a three-game road trip beginning this Friday, May 23 at Los Angeles at 7 p.m. on ION before heading to New York to face the Liberty on May 27 and 29 on KPIX and KMAX.

Check out the Golden State Valkyries Statistics



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The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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