Then, the second quarter came and the whole game flipped on its head. In the final 30 minutes, the Valkyries didn’t look at all like themselves, eventually falling to the Lynx, 101-72 in the franchise’s first-ever playoff game. Now the team understands they have a lot to fix if they want to keep their season alive with a Game 2 win at home.

“I think we had a pretty good first half,” Valkyries forward Cecilia Zandalasini said after Game 1. “They are a very good team, so if you want to beat them, we have to be consistent. Our game is a 40-minute game, and I think we just played a solid half, but we need the second half as well. So that’s what we’re gonna focus on going into the next one.”

The IX Basketball, a 24/7/365 women’s basketball newsroom powered by The Next
The IX Basketball: A basketball newsroom brought to you by The IX Sports. 24/7/365 women’s basketball coverage, written, edited and photographed by our young, diverse staff and dedicated to breaking news, analysis, historical deep dives and projections about the game we love.

The Valkyries started the game playing some of their best basketball of the season in the first 10 minutes against the best team in the league. They hit five of their first eight threes and shot 50% from the field in the first quarter, turning the ball over just once. The 28 points they scored against the Lynx was their second-highest scoring quarter against Minnesota this season.

But the Lynx responded. They made the Valkyries look like a completely different team than the one who surprised the entire WNBA this season.

The first thing Minnesota did was ratchet up their defense, which caused the Valkyries to go cold. Golden State made one shot over the first 5:46 of the second quarter, finishing the quarter with just five field goals. The cold shooting continued in the second half, where they combined to shoot 25% over the final two quarters. Golden State made 9 field goals in the first quarter. They hit 11 shots during the remainder of the game.

“I think they’re physicality-based for sure,” Valkyries guard Veronica Burton told the media after the game. “We weren’t hitting as many shots. The thing about a team like Minnesota is that they’re going to be very steady throughout the entire game, and there’s no let up, and there’s really no drop off. I think they’re a physical team, but that’s kind of who they are. They pride themselves on defense as well. I think we can just continue to move the ball better, but we started off hitting on shots.”

The challenge from cold shooting was magnified by turnovers. The Valkyries were bottom four in the WNBA during the regular season in giveaways and it showed on Sunday. They turned the ball over 16 times, 15 after the first quarter. These two things were a perfect storm for Minnesota, first in defensive rating during the regular season and second in points off opponent turnovers. They took advantage of the Valkyries’ mistakes and dominated over the final 30 minutes, outscoring Golden State 80-44 from the second quarter onward.

The Valkyries struggling with turnovers and cold shooting against Minnesota isn’t a huge surprise with how the Lynx have played this season. What was new was the lack of production Golden State got from their bench. The Valkyries had the third-most productive bench in the entire league during the regular season, but it was almost non-existent in Game 1.

Sep 14, 2025; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Golden State Valkyries forward Cecilia Zandalasini (24) shoots the ball over Minnesota Lynx forward Alanna Smith (8) in the second half during game one of round one for the 2025 WNBA Playoffs at Target Center. Mandatory Credit: Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images

On Sunday afternoon, the Valkyries got just 17 points from their bench. While that seems like a solid amount, 11 of those 17 points came in the fourth quarter when the game was out of reach. The Valkyries played just 7 total players in the first 20 minutes of the game and got no bench points the entire first half.

“Yeah, I shortened it,” Valkyries head coach Natalie Nakase said of her bench in Game 1. “Now maybe, I’ll lengthen it. I went with my gut. I went my feel. I thought they did great. I thought Kate [Martin] had amazing energy. I thought her fight was great. I thought her physicality was on point. Her ability again, to space floor, hit key shots. I thought she did great. Illy [Iliana Rupert] she got two offensive fouls right away. I mean, I had to take her out unfortunately. So that’s just, it’s unfortunate, or maybe I’ve got to do a better job of just staying with her. So again, it’s on me. I have to do a better job.” 

With all their struggles, Golden State showed early they could not only hang with the Lynx but beat them. The Valkyries have things they can fix that are under their control but that’s easier said than done against the WNBA’s best team. The first thing they need to do is limit their turnovers; Minnesota took nine more shots than Golden State in Game 1. The more the Valkyries have the ball, the more shots they can take.

The Valkyries also need to find more ways to create easy looks at the basket. Golden State scored just 18 points in the paint to Minnesota’s 44 on Sunday. It’s well documented that the Valkyries want to shoot threes, but teams have keyed on that as the season has progressed. Golden State needs to find a way to balance the outside with the inside.

Lastly, the Valkyries need to get better production from their bench. Turning the ball over and struggling to score against the Lynx doesn’t come as a huge shock. However, getting outscored 42-17 in bench production for a team that has been the definition of next women up all season is eye opening. If the Valkyries want any shot at going back to Minneapolis for Game 3, they will need more production from their reserves.

“I can’t tell you that right now,” Nakase said on adjustments for Game 2 on Wednesday. “I already told them what we’re going to do, but recovery obviously, is key. But, they did their job. They’re supposed to win here at home. Now we get to go home. Now we get to go to Ballhalla, in front of our amazing fans and play with the love and support that we always have, and we gotta do our job. We’ll make the adjustments as is, but we just gotta make sure through these momentum killers, like, how can we be more effective?”

It was always going to be a tall task for the Valkyries to upset the Lynx. Minnesota swept the regular season series and added on by handing Golden State the worst loss of their inaugural season on Sunday afternoon. They made the Valkyries look like a completely different team for 30 of the 40 minutes in Game 1. Traveling back to “Ballhalla”, where Golden State was 14-8 during the regular season, will help. However, the Valkyries will need more than just their home cooking if they want to continue their first season beyond Wednesday night.