{"id":357654,"date":"2025-12-19T07:54:36","date_gmt":"2025-12-19T07:54:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/357654\/"},"modified":"2025-12-19T07:54:36","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T07:54:36","slug":"weve-written-it-our-own-way","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/357654\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018We\u2019ve written it our own way\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Want the latest Bay Area sports news delivered to your inbox? Sign up here<\/a> to receive regular email newsletters, including \u201cThe Dime.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBallhalla\u201d has become a fortress. With 20 consecutive sellouts, the Golden State Valkyries\u2019 home court is synonymous with deafening energy and passion. It\u2019s no coincidence the team boasts a 13-7 record at Chase Center \u2014 the fanbase is an undeniable advantage.<\/p>\n

But for center Temi F\u00e1gb\u00e9nl\u00e9, it might actually be too friendly.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cOur crowd is super, super nice. Even so, in the beginning of the game, when they\u2019re introducing the other team, they are cheering for everyone else. \u2026 Let\u2019s stop doing that, please \u2014 they\u2019re in our home,\u201d F\u00e1gb\u00e9nl\u00e9 said, in high spirits after leading the Valkyries and tying her season-high with 16 points.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen they\u2019re in our home, they\u2019re uncomfortable, and they should feel like they\u2019re not welcome.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

After the introductions Tuesday night, the crowd was all in favor of the violet and black. And in return, the Valkyries gave fans plenty of reason to cheer in a 66-58 takedown of the reigning champion New York Liberty.\u00a0<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no series that exemplifies the Valkyries\u2019 growth better than their four matchups against the defending champs. Their first meeting May 27, just four games into Golden State\u2019s inaugural season, was a reality check. The Liberty opened with a dominant 27-10 first quarter and cruised to a 28-point rout, never trailing. At the time, the Valkyries looked like what they were: a brand-new team trying to find its footing.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But in their next two meetings, another in Brooklyn and one in San Francisco, Golden State played New York much tighter, keeping the losses competitive and within five points.<\/p>\n

\"\"Valkyries center Temi F\u00e1gb\u00e9nl\u00e9 enjoyed a career night against the Liberty with 14 points. | Source: Matthew Huang\/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Then came Tuesday \u2014 a defensive masterclass, and a breakthrough. The eight-point win marks a culmination of season-long growth for Natalie Nakase\u2019s team.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a journey. It\u2019s a marathon, not a sprint, like they say,\u201d F\u00e1gb\u00e9nl\u00e9 said of the development since the Liberty matchups early in the season. \u201cWe\u2019ve just been growing each day, and we\u2019ve had our goals, just trying to grow 1% each day.\u201d<\/p>\n

2 days ago<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

6 days ago<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/a><\/p>\n

Tuesday, Dec. 9<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

A loud arena guided Golden State through a back-and-forth first quarter, one that featured the long-awaited return of Monique Billings, who had been sidelined since late July with an ankle injury. The Liberty held a four-point edge, but through an explosive, Kate Martin-led effort from beyond the arc, the Valkyries outscored their opponents 26-8 in the second frame.<\/p>\n

The Valkyries extended the lead all the way to 24 in the third quarter, which proved too much for the Liberty to overcome as frequent whistles slowed down the pace.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fact that our crowd stayed with it and stayed consistent, as they always do, it really helps us. It really gives us an extra boost of energy,\u201d Martin said after the win \u2014 the team\u2019s third in four days.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Valkyries guard Kate Martin provided a double-digit scoring output off the bench. | Source: Ezra Shaw\/Getty Images <\/p>\n

New York, an offensive powerhouse, is third in offensive rating and averages 85.1 points per game. Sure, they were without one of the league\u2019s best shooters and Bay Area native Sabrina Ionescu, but the Valkyries held the Liberty to a season-low 58 points \u2014 on 18-of-57 shooting from the field.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Both former WNBA MVPs, Breanna Stewart (who finished with 19 points) and Jonquel Jones were held to just two and five points for the first half.\u00a0F\u00e1gb\u00e9nl\u00e9, who played 38 out of 40 minutes Tuesday, anchored Golden State in the post and finished +14 for the night.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was all defense, truly,\u201d Martin said of Golden State\u2019s impressive second quarter. \u201cWe were really connected on that end of the floor \u2026 we were just there creating a wall, making it hard for them to pass out of that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Given how the Valkyries limited top scorers in the Mystics\u2019 Sonia Citron and the Fever\u2019s Aliyah Boston over the weekend, Nakase couldn\u2019t even be sure that Tuesday\u2019s shutdown of the Liberty bigs could be crowned their best defensive performance in the last week. It\u2019s been a highlight through the past three games.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are continuing to climb,\u201d Nakase said. \u201cI think our communication has been elite over the last three games. When we are communicating and we\u2019re executing the game plan, we\u2019re pretty dangerous.\u201d<\/p>\n

That communication, particularly on the defensive end, has been the backbone of Golden State\u2019s success, a highlight in every win. It\u2019s exactly how a team that wasn\u2019t expected to win more than about 10 games has now collected 22 and positioned itself firmly in the playoff mix.<\/p>\n

\"\"Guard Kaila Charles has been a force on offense and defense since joining the Valkyries in the middle of the season. | Source: Ezra Shaw\/Getty Images <\/p>\n

\u201cThat was the identity that we built \u2014 that defense was going to be what we hang our hats on and our defense is what\u2019s going to travel on the road, our defense is going to be what we rely on every night. It was going to be how we were going to win games,\u201d Nakase said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Just a vision at the beginning of the season, that identity has been tried, shaped, and sharpened over the course of the season.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Built \u201cbrick by brick\u201d as F\u00e1gb\u00e9nl\u00e9 put it, the WNBA\u2019s newest franchise has created more than just a foundation \u2014 the Valkyries have constructed a winning season, defying expectations, and making history in the process. With four games left in the regular season, the Valkyries are no longer clinging to playoff hopes; they\u2019re increasingly dangerous and hold a comfortable 2.5-game margin above the final seed.<\/p>\n

If the Los Angeles Sparks lose on Wednesday, the Valkyries can clinch a playoff berth as soon as Thursday with a victory over the Dallas Wings at home.<\/p>\n

The fight is now for playoff seeding (the top eight teams earn berths) \u2014 and with a strong finish, they could climb as high as fifth. It\u2019s been quite the ascent, yes. But this team never saw itself as a typical expansion franchise.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe didn\u2019t call ourselves an expansion team, the media did,\u201d Nakase said. \u201cWe called ourselves a new team from the jump \u2026 we don\u2019t want the label of expansion team, we want to create our own story. We want to create our own culture, our own environment. We\u2019ve written it our own way.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Want the latest Bay Area sports news delivered to your inbox? Sign up here to receive regular email…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":357655,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[4804,99,434],"class_list":{"0":"post-357654","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wnba","8":"tag-golden-state-valkyries","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-wnba"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/357654","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=357654"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/357654\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/357655"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=357654"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=357654"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=357654"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}