September 18, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n\u201cI said, \u2018Get your f\u2014ing heads up\u2019,\u201d said newly anointed WNBA Coach of the Year Natalie Nakase, recalling her postgame message to the team. \u201cI want everyone\u2019s eye contact. I want to feel every single person right now. I want your emotions. I want your heart. I want everything, and everyone looked up, and I just told them how proud I was. To have that place rocking tonight, to have that Ballhalla mentality, to be able to go toe-and-toe to the number one team, I was so proud.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Valkyries earned respect in their inaugural campaign. They made an immediate impression on the WNBA and set a proper foundation for their ambition as a franchise. They provided a refreshing jolt of novel warmth in the Bay Area sports landscape, in the league, in this percolating women\u2019s sports movement.<\/p>\n
Yet, Wednesday\u2019s gut-wrenching conclusion was fitting. Necessary even.<\/p>\n
Reality caught up to the Valkyries. Immaculate vibes couldn\u2019t compensate for shortcomings in talent and experience against the Lynx. Chemistry and scheme, even playing hard, don\u2019t hold up reliably against stars.<\/p>\n
By tip-off, they were down three starters: All-Star forward Kayla Thornton was ruled out for the season in July, veteran guard Tiffany Hayes missed her 10th straight game with an undisclosed knee injury, and center Temi F\u00e1gb\u00e9nl\u00e9 was a last-minute scratch with right knee pain. Nakase went primarily with six players.<\/p>\n
They were valiant most of the game. The Valkyries made 10 of 20 from 3 in the first three quarters, three by Veronica Burton. When the 3s are falling, they are formidable. But Monique Billings came off the bench and gave them a presence inside. She led Golden State with 15 points to go with four rebounds. Her energy was infectious. Her three-point play to close the third quarter had the SAP Center shaking.<\/p>\n
The Valkyries led by 14 points entering the fourth quarter. They outplayed the best team in the league over 30 minutes. But Minnesota\u2019s Napheesa Collier, the WNBA MVP hopeful, and Kayla McBride, the sharp-shooting All-Star vet, took over. They combined to score or assist on 21 points in the fourth. They revealed the levels involved.<\/p>\n
During the regular season, Golden State ranked next to last in fourth-quarter scoring (18) and last in fourth-quarter field goal percentage (38.5 percent). Wednesday, it totaled 11 points over the final 10 minutes, making just 5 of 16 from the field. And what the Valkyries did get was hard. They were only playing Minnesota because they went 5 of 20 in the fourth quarter at Seattle in the penultimate regular-season game, landing them as the No. 8 seed instead of No. 6.<\/p>\n
This isn\u2019t a lesson general manager Ohemaa Nyanin has to learn. She\u2019s assuredly already working toward how to get to another level. The Valkyries have work to do.<\/p>\n
Playoff basketball comes down to playmakers. To elite skill. To execution driven by conviction. The Valkyries got to feel that, as Minnesota turned up the heat.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously, that\u2019s a really tough way to go out,\u201d Burton said after totaling 13 points, nine assists, six rebounds and four steals in 35 minutes. \u201cWhen you have a lead majority of the game \u2014 I think we\u2019ve had a few games like that this year \u2014 (it) stings even more. Just really soaking this all in. This was an incredible experience. This was an incredible team.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Valkyries have the crowd and the culture. They have the coach. They have some core players, including a few gems they found. They have the resources. They also have championship aspirations.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s why getting their hearts ripped out on Wednesday was a net positive. It\u2019s a visceral reminder of how being competitive, being fun, ain\u2019t enough. This season was a taste, but wasn\u2019t the thing.<\/p>\n
That sentiment was in Burton\u2019s eyes as she took a moment to stare off into nowhere, shaking her head. In Sala\u00fcn\u2019s tone in her postgame remarks.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople in this group are special, you know?\u201d she said in response to her team being called inexperienced. \u201cYes, we don\u2019t have big names. Yes, there were no stars. But we\u2019re f\u2014ing underdogs. We\u2019re fighters.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was in team owner Joe Lacob\u2019s expression as he sat courtside. In forward Cecilia Zandalasini\u2019s tears.<\/p>\n
She took the final shot of their season. She was one play, one jumper, from forcing the series back to Minnesota for a winner-take-all showdown. Or being the one to close the door on a dream season. With four seconds remaining, down a point, Nakase asked her veteran forward if she was ready.<\/p>\n
Yeah, she was ready. The 29-year-old Italian had every incentive to keep this season going. This was the best year of her WNBA career, which totaled four seasons since 2017.<\/p>\n
Zandalasini \u2014 who the Valks plucked from Minnesota in the expansion draft \u2014 blossomed into a primary offensive weapon for the Golden State, her career fertilized by the Valkyries\u2019 ethos. On this night, on the biggest possession of the season, she was the go-to player.<\/p>\n
Minnesota fouled intentionally when Zandalasini first got the ball. But the Valkyries executed the same play with 2.8 seconds left, running her from the baseline to the top. She curled as she received the inbounds pass, dribbling across the width of the court, trying to get away from Minnesota\u2019s McBride. Out of time, Zandalisini pulled up for a contested, fade-away 18-footer.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo be able to have that type of confidence at the end of the game, and to put it all on her shoulders,\u201d Nakase said. \u201cI told her, \u2018I\u2019m always going to ride with you to the end of the game. I\u2019m always riding with you for my last shooter.\u2019 She was able to create separation, lift. It was so beautiful.\u201d<\/p>\n
She fell to the hardwood as the shot banked off the rim and the horn sounded. The tears rolled almost immediately. Lying on her back, surrounded by her teammates, Zandalisini cried as she processed the disappointment.<\/p>\n
Fairytales aren\u2019t forever.<\/p>\n
(Photo of Janelle Sala\u00fcn: Thearon W. Henderson \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n