{"id":53986,"date":"2025-08-02T02:42:11","date_gmt":"2025-08-02T02:42:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/53986\/"},"modified":"2025-08-02T02:42:11","modified_gmt":"2025-08-02T02:42:11","slug":"shorthanded-valkyries-power-through-fatigue-down-chicago-sky-on-road","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/53986\/","title":{"rendered":"Shorthanded Valkyries power through fatigue, down Chicago Sky on road"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Golden State Valkyries<\/a> came into Friday\u2019s game against the Chicago Sky exhausted and undermanned.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Playing the second of a back-to-back and their fourth game in six days, the expansion team suited up just nine players after getting into Chicago from Washington D.C<\/a>. at 2:30 a.m. Friday morning.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But despite the circumstances, the Valkyries managed to pull out another road win as they defeated the Chicago Sky 73-66.<\/a><\/p>\n

Golden State improved to 14-13, the first time the expansion team has been above .500 since July 9. It\u2019s the Valkyries\u2019 first three-game winning streak since they rattled off a trio of victories against the Las Vegas Aces, Los Angeles Spars and Seattle Storm in early June.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe dug deep. We talked about having nine strong, no excuses,\u201d Nakase said. \u201cCredit to our team but at the same time, credit to our coaches for jumping on them and holding them accountable. It was just a complete team effort. I\u2019m going to war with these 12 any day.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"CHICAGO,CHICAGO, ILLINOIS \u2013 AUGUST 01: Janelle Salaun #13 of the Golden State Valkyries shoots the ball against Elizabeth Williams #1 of the Chicago Sky in the second quarter at Wintrust Arena on August 01, 2025 in Chicago, Illinois. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Patrick McDermott\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Veronica Burton, a Northwestern University alum, led the Valkyries with 18 points and seven assists while recording a plus-minus rating of +19. Rookie Janelle Sala\u00fcn had 16 points and nine rebounds while Iliana Rupert came off the bench to score 14 points.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Valkyries were without forward Cecilia Zandalasini, who missed her second straight game with a left foot injury. Tiffany Hayes was a late scratch after exiting Thursday\u2019s win over the Washington Mystics in the second quarter with a left leg injury. The Valkyries announced on Friday center Monique Billings<\/a>, who missed three of the last four games, will be out for at least three weeks with a left ankle sprain.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Elizabeth Williams led the Sky with 15 points. Chicago also came into Friday\u2019s game shorthanded as they were without star power forward Angel Reese and second leading scorer Ariel Atkins.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Despite Chicago shooting 48.7% from the field in the first half, the Valkyries did just enough to go into halftime tied at 37. Nakase used all nine of her available players in the first half, including guard Kaila Charles<\/a>, who was signed on a hardship contract on Friday morning.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe feel (the fatigue) in the first quarter honestly,\u201d Burton said. \u201cBut that\u2019s being a professional athlete and that\u2019s the reality of our season right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Sky came out of the halftime break firing on all cylinders. Chicago built its lead to as big as seven in the third quarter behind a balanced scoring attack that saw the home team make seven field goals on seven assists.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A last-second Burton 3-pointer cut the Sky lead to two going into the final 10 minutes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Valkyries used a 9-0 run early in the fourth quarter to retake the advantage. Chicago stormed back to cut the lead one with just over two minutes left, but two made free throws from Burton at the 34.6 second mark made the score 71-66 to ice the game for Golden State.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"CHICAGO,CHICAGO, IL \u2013 AUGUST 1: Kate Martin #20 of the Golden State Valkyries handles the ball during the game against the Chicago Sky during the preseason game against the on August 1, 2025 at the Wintrust Arena in Chicago, IL. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2025 NBAE (Photo by Gary Dineen\/NBAE via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Golden State outscored Chicago 21-12 in the fourth quarter and held the Sky to just 6-of-19 shooting. Nakase closed the game with Burton, Rupert, Charles, Sala\u00fcn and starting center Temi F\u00e1gb\u00e9nl\u00e9.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it says a lot about each other and the ability to step up when people go down,\u201d Burton said of playing Friday\u2019s game with nine players. \u201cBut at the end of the day, we really rely on each other, trust in each other and we fight. And to do this on the road, down the stretch, on a back-to-back is definitely impressive.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Valkyries will end their five-game road trip on Sunday when they play the Las Vegas Aces.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Nakase welcomes Lacob\u2019s influence<\/p>\n

Owner Joe Lacob set a lofty goal for the franchise when he said he wanted the Valkyries to win a championship in the next five years.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Lacob, who also owns the Golden State Warriors, has garnered a reputation in sports as an owner who will be uber-aggressive to win a title.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Just halfway through her first season, Nakase has already felt Lacob\u2019s presence.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt wasn\u2019t really we want to, but we have to win in five years. Let\u2019s get that straight. Joe doesn\u2019t waver in his expectations,\u201d Nakase said before Friday\u2019s game. \u201cHe\u2019s excited when we\u2019re at home. He\u2019s there supporting, cheering, jumping, which is really nice to see. And then now he just says, \u2018You guys are doing an amazing job.\u2019 \u2026 So far, so good. I still have my job. I\u2019m still here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Originally Published: August 1, 2025 at 2:58 PM PDT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Golden State Valkyries came into Friday\u2019s game against the Chicago Sky exhausted and undermanned.\u00a0 Playing the second…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":53987,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[402,2356,4804,14059,5415,36930,10834,10835,10841,10842,5414,99,434],"class_list":["post-53986","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-basketball","tag-california","tag-golden-state-valkyries","tag-lake-county","tag-marin-county","tag-mendocino-county","tag-monterey-county","tag-napa-county","tag-santa-cruz-county","tag-solano-county","tag-sonoma-county","tag-sports","tag-wnba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53986","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=53986"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53986\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53987"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53986"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53986"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53986"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}