Valkyries (2-3) at Liberty (5-0) Postgame Notes and Quotes

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WNBA Golden State Valkyries

Valkyries (2-3) at Liberty (5-0) Postgame Notes and Quotes

May 29, 2025 - Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)
Golden State Valkyries News Release


Golden State 77, New York 82

By the Numbers

Golden State held New York to a season-low 82 points, the first time the Liberty have been held to under 90 this season, and a 37.7 shooting percentage (23-61), also a season low.

Janelle Salaün reached double-digit scoring for the third time this season with 18 points and added a season-high 13 rebounds for her first career double-double.

Cecelia Zandalasini made her Valkyries debut, scoring nine points in 15 minutes off the bench.

Monique Billings returned from a two-game absence to score 10 points on 44.4 percent (4-9) shooting, and recorded seven rebounds.

Julie Vanloo made several big plays down the stretch, handing out a season-high eight assists, five of which came in the fourth quarter, while scoring eight points.

Golden State limited the Liberty to just 21.4 percent shooting (3-14) from the field in the second quarter, outscoring New York, 19-17 in the frame.

The Valkyries had 29 bench points, one away from a season best (30 at LAS on May 23).

Quotes

HEAD COACH NATALIE NAKASE

ON WHAT WAS DIFFERENT TONIGHT COMPARED TO TUESDAY:

"Yeah, I gave the girls a ton of credit on just how they responded, it was a 30-point loss two days ago. And then again attention to detail, they followed the game plan pretty much to a tee, and so that's the team that we're looking for Tuesday. So just again credit to them, the things that we showed them offensively they executed, and then same thing defensively. I've just got to do a better job of the game calling exactly. I think, I just told them we're gonna fill out one play that I really like, haven't found it yet. But Julie (Vanloo) and V (Veronia Burton), they called pretty much a lot of the things in the fourth, which I'm really proud of."

ON THE ADJUSTMENTS TONIGHT:

"We knew New York really likes to pack the paint, so we just had to get off-the-ball a little bit earlier and just keeping the game simple. Sometimes we do like to make tight passes, I mean any point guard likes to do that, but we just kept the game simple. Move the ball and then that actually started to open up the rim and that's when we got to the layups."

ON WHAT THE TEAM CAN LEARN FROM THIS ROAD TRIP:

"Yeah, I mean we're all one family, so I think anytime where we set our goals high, obviously we want to win every game. So at that expectation, then obviously we're going to be disappointed, and I want them to feel the pain. I told them 'hey, we're gonna have some short-term pain for a long-term result.' So this is definitely painful. They were in pain on Tuesday, so hopefully they feel it but understand we took so many positives from this game and then moving forward now. We've got to get ready for Minnesota."

FORWARD MONIQUE BILLINGS AND FORWARD JANELLE SALAÜN

ON WHAT THIS GAME SHOWED:

Billings: "I thought we fought so much better than the last game. The connectedness was there, energy was great. So I think there's a lot to build off from this game, so I'm feeling excited."

ON WHAT THEY CAN TAKE FROM THIS LOSS:

Salaün: "Like she (Billings) said, like, I think we were a little bit satisfied by the way we fought. That was way better than the first game. So we can see, we're building, we're getting better, but... it's tough. It's still a loss. We are all competitive people and we're not going to be satisfied after that. We're going to get back to work and we have more games to come. I mean, it's tough. It's going to be tough also."

ON WHAT THEY LEARNED TONIGHT:

Billings: "I would just say today showed us what our standard can be. We don't need to fall off from anything, be anything less than today. Last game against New York we were less than ourselves, today we fought, and so, like you said, no moral victories. ButI think we left it all out there, but at the same time there's still another level to go. But I feel like we reached like a good point to where it's like, okay, let's build off of this and let's not fall back."

Up Next

Golden State returns home to face the Minnesota Lynx, who sit atop the Western Conference standings, on Sunday, June 1 at 5:30 p.m. on KPIX+, KMAX, 95.7 The Game and the Audacy App.

Check out the Golden State Valkyries Statistics



Women's National Basketball Association Stories from May 29, 2025


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