Golden State Valkyries Postgame Notes: Fire 90, Valkyries 82 (OT)
WNBA Golden State Valkyries

Golden State Valkyries Postgame Notes: Fire 90, Valkyries 82 (OT)

Published on September 23, 2026 under Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)
Golden State Valkyries News Release


By the Numbers

Gabby Williams led the Valkyries in scoring with 17 points, four rebounds, and four assists, shooting a perfect 4-4 from the line without committing a single turnover while playing 40:40.

Veronica Burton finished with 13 points, a team-high eight assists, seven rebounds, two blocks, and one steal. Burton went 2-4 (50 percent) from three and 7-8 (87.5 percent) from the free throw line.

Janelle Salaün scored 11 points, her 27th double-digit scoring performance of the year, a WNBA single-season record for a reserve player. Janelle also added five rebounds and two assists.

Kayla Thornton posted 11 points and seven rebounds, reaching 1,500 career boards with her third rebound of the game in the third quarter. Thornton shot 4-8 (50 percent) from the field and 2-4 (50 percent) from beyond the arc.

Tiffany Hayes was the fifth player to score in double figures with ten points, while also adding three assists and one block.

Cecilia Zandalasini contributed seven points, two assists, and two steals, shooting 1-2 (50 percent) from the field, 1-2 (50 percent) from three, and 4-5 from the line (80 percent).

Kiah Stokes, Burton, and Thornton each had seven rebounds. Stokes grabbed six defensive rebounds in the first half alone.

Golden State began the game with a 17-0 lead, holding Portland scoreless for the first six minutes and 40 seconds which is the ninth-longest scoreless streak to start a game in WNBA history. The 17 consecutive points scored are tied for the fifth-most to start a game in league history (per Elias).

The Valkyries shot a franchise-high 30 free throws.

It was Golden State's second-ever overtime game, with the first coming on June 9, 2025 at Los Angeles (89-81 victory).

Quotes

HEAD COACH NATALIE NAKASE:

ON THE TAKEAWAYS FROM TONIGHT:

"No lead is safe, every team is dangerous. I thought we had the respect, I thought we had the mindset going in; the right intent, and then we kind of just let it slip away. They played harder than us. Give the Portland Fire credit. They played harder than us. That is unacceptable, so we really have to make sure we're competing for four quarters and working on our execution down the stretch."

ON MOVING FORWARD:

"[It's] time to watch film. Time to watch film and be honest with ourselves. How can we fight with a lot more energy? There's nothing to save up for. We have to continue to play hard all four quarters...That has to be clear and direct going into L.A. [Los Angeles] because L.A. plays hard. They play very hard, and so [there's] no underestimating. We got to go out punching."

GOLDEN STATE GUARDS GABBY WILLIAMS AND VERONICA BURTON:

ON THE SECOND QUARTER:

Williams: "Energy and effort...We're not going to hold them to zero the whole game, they stepped up and made some adjustments. I think our energy dipped while they kept feeding off of the momentum and off of each other, and we just couldn't stop their run."

ON THE TEAM'S MINDSET:

Burton: "Our only option right now is to look at it as a positive. We have to learn from this...We need to make adjustments. We need to understand the sense of urgency that we need to be playing every single game with, and that's [on] all of us. One through 14, we need to show up. Our habits need to remain the same and/or increase every single quarter. It has to be a full four quarter game. We started the game strong, we set the tone, and then we just let it dwindle, and I don't think we ever really got it back, so we learn from it. It's good to [have] happen now, but it's about how we respond now."

Up Next: The Valkyries visit Los Angeles for their last regular season matchup on Thursday, September 24, tipping off at 7:00 p.m. PT on KPIX+, KMAX, 95.7 THE GAME, Audacy App, & ESPN 1320.

Check out the Golden State Valkyries Statistics

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Women's National Basketball Association Stories from September 23, 2026


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