Valkyries (9-9) vs. Dream (12-7) Postgame Notes and Quotes
WNBA Golden State Valkyries

Valkyries (9-9) vs. Dream (12-7) Postgame Notes and Quotes

July 7, 2025 - Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)
Golden State Valkyries News Release


Golden State 81, Atlanta 90

By the Numbers

Monique Billings had a season-high 19 points, 11 of which came in the first half. Billings went 7-12 (58.3 percent) from the floor and added six rebounds.

All-Star Kayla Thornton had 15 points and six rebounds, all of which came on the defensive end.

Tiffany Hayes scored 12 points and handed out three assists, the eighth-straight game she's scored in double figures.

Kate Martin added 11 off the bench on 3-5 (60.0 percent) from deep.

Veronica Burton scored 11 points and had seven assists, giving Golden State five players in double figures for the sixth time this season.

Laeticia Amihere was +6 in 16 minutes of action, scoring four points and adding six rebounds and four assists. It's her fifth straight game recording five-or-more rebounds.

Golden State began the game making their first five three-point attempts, and scored 26 points in the first quarter on 9-15 (60.0 percent) shooting, including 5-7 (71.4 percent) from deep. The 26 points are the most scored by the Valkyries in the first quarter of a road game this season.

Both teams were lights out from the free-throw line, with Golden State starting out 7-7 and Atlanta starting 15-15. The Valkyries went 9-9 from the line in the game, the seventh time this season a team was perfect from the free-throw line.

The Valkyries have only attempted 17 free throws the last two games, whereas their opponents have attempted 39.

Golden State gave up 27 points off turnovers, the second most conceded in a game this year, on 21 total turnovers.

The Valkyries went 12-29 (41.4 percent) from three, their most threes and highest three-point field goal percentage in a game this season.

Quotes

HEAD COACH NATALIE NAKASE

ON THE TURNOVERS TONIGHT:

"I don't know if it's so much an issue. I think it's just that Atlanta did a great job just ramping up their physicality; and I think we ran our starters a little bit longer than I liked. So I just told them, look, we're gonna have to be able to fight through this. I trust you guys out there, so let's continue to build and I said from the beginning of the season, 'short-term pain for long-term results.' This is painful, but we can be better. We know where there are areas, like you said, the turnovers, and let's be better."

ON THE OFFENSIVE STRUGGLES LATE IN GAMES:

"Yeah, I wish I had the fourth quarter free throw discrepancy, but 24 to nine. So that's minus 15, so if they get 15 more free, that's why they're called free, and we lost the game by nine. I'm telling the refs, like, this is a hard game for us. I get it, home cooking, but to me, I thought that for sure V (Veronica Burton), Mo (Monique Billings), and Tip (Tiffany Hayes), they were going up just as aggressive as their players, and we just did not get the whistle. So I'm gonna keep fighting for my players, but 24 to nine, I think that's too much for me."

ON EXCEEDING EXPECTATIONS AS AN EXPANSION TEAM:

"Yeah, thank you for asking. I mean, I think from the outside looking in, it's great to hear all that positivity. But for us, we hold the standard. Our goal was, I don't think a lofty goal, but we set out to win every single game. We know we didn't defend the way we're supposed to (tonight). We know we didn't defend Minnesota the way we're supposed to. So we're not happy. It's nice to have this positivity around us, but we want to be better. We're not taking these losses lightly but honestly, the losses allow us to grow and learn from them, which is great; and now trust me, the support has been amazing."

VALKYRIES FORWARDS MONIQUE BILLINGS AND KAYLA THORNTON

ON THE FOURTH QUARTER OFFENSIVE STRUGGLES:

Thornton: "Well, first of all, we're not gonna win any game with 21 turnovers. That's the number one thing, we just gotta find our rhythm. We're a defensive team, and I think we have to find ourselves on that first, because then that translates over to our offense. So we gotta go back into the books, sit down, together as a team, re-evaluate each other, re-evaluate ourselves, re-evaluate us as a team, and figure out what we have to do. We have two big games coming up to finish this road trip, so that's the plan right now."

ON BEING 2-6 ON THE ROAD:

Billings: "I don't know if the road has anything to do with it, I think it's just us being consistent. We started the game out great through the first punch, and that's a really good team. Atlanta is a really, really great team, so credit to them. But it's just consistency. It comes down to us being consistent, building off of these losses, learning from them. I'm optimistic about it, and excited to play Indiana in the coming days."

ON THE LATE-GAME TURNOVERS:

Thornton: "I think we've just got to slow down, and we've just got to play smart. I think sometimes we're just rushed, and we're trying to run the play instead of run the play to see what the defense is giving us. So we've just got to slow down on that part and just execute, because the game is going to come to us. We've just got to allow it to come to us. But again, 21 turnovers, not going to win your game, and it ended up being so."

Up Next

The Valkyries take on Indiana on Wednesday, July 9 at 9 a.m. PT on KPIX, KOVR, NBA TV, and the Audacy App.

Check out the Golden State Valkyries Statistics



Women's National Basketball Association Stories from July 7, 2025


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