{"id":607615,"date":"2026-04-26T15:03:14","date_gmt":"2026-04-26T15:03:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/607615\/"},"modified":"2026-04-26T15:03:14","modified_gmt":"2026-04-26T15:03:14","slug":"kayla-thorntons-injury-return-and-more-takeaways","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/607615\/","title":{"rendered":"Kayla Thornton’s injury return and more takeaways"},"content":{"rendered":"

SAN FRANCISCO \u2014 The vibes were back.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It was only a preseason game<\/a>, but another sold-out crowd arrived at Chase Center to watch the Valkyries<\/a> take on the Seattle Storm.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And for stretches, it felt like something more.<\/p>\n

Golden State held off a late push to secure a 78-76 win<\/a>\u00a0in its lone preseason tune-up, leaning on defensive energy and late-game execution to close out a tight game.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was incredible,\u201d Valkyries point guard Veronica Burton<\/a> said of the crowd. \u201cI think over the course of last year, we realized it was just gonna get better and better. And so it\u2019s no surprise tonight that they came out at a preseason game sold out. The energy is amazing, and we really feed off of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Golden State Valkyries huddle after winning against the Seattle Storm in a preseason game at Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Saturday, April 25, 2026. (Shae Hammond\/Bay Area News Group)\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Valkyries did it shorthanded, too \u2014 without Cecilia Zandalasini, Janelle Sala\u00fcn, Just\u0117 Jocyt\u0117, Kaila Charles and Iliana Rupert, all away on international duty. Gabby Williams<\/a>, who reported to the team Saturday, was also inactive with a rest designation.<\/p>\n

Still, the building stayed loud, the rotations tightened and the Valkyries showed flashes of the identity they\u2019ve been emphasizing throughout camp.<\/p>\n

Here are five takeaways from Saturday\u2019s preseason win over Seattle:\u00a0<\/p>\n

Thornton struggles in return<\/p>\n

It had been 283 days since Kayla Thornton<\/a> played in a basketball game after suffering a season-ending knee injury last July. And it looked like that on Saturday night.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Thornton finished with seven points in 14 minutes, shooting 3-for-8 from the field and making just one of her five 3-point attempts. But she did have her moments.<\/p>\n

In the second quarter, Thornton took a fastbreak pass in stride and finished through contact. She was solid defensively, rotating well and playing with anticipation.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"GoldenGolden State Valkyries’ Kayla Thornton (5) takes a shot against Seattle Storm’s Stefanie Dolson (31) in the first quarter of a preseason game at Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Saturday, April 25, 2026. (Shae Hammond\/Bay Area News Group)\u00a0<\/p>\n

It will take some time for the 33-year-old to return to her All-Star form, but Nakase said she was happy to see Thornton keep the same aggressiveness that led her to a career year in 2025.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cShe had no fear, and that\u2019s what I like to see,\u201d Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase said. \u201cI\u2019m going to give her a lot of time to continue to build her strength back and her timing and a rhythm with her teammates. But for a preseason game, I thought she was great.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sowah ignites Valkyries\u2019 run<\/p>\n

Miela Sowah<\/a> was a wildcard to make the roster before Saturday\u2019s game, but her electric 14-point performance might make the Valkyries or another team in the league think more about adding her to their team.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sowah had the defining moment of the night as she hit four straight 3s from the end of the third quarter to the early minutes of the fourth quarter to jolt an already electric Chase Center crowd and give Golden State a lead early in crunch time.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"GoldenGolden State Valkyries’ Miela Sowah (7) falls back on Golden State Valkyries’ Kaitlyn Chen (2) after making a three-pointer in the fourth quarter at Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Saturday, April 25, 2026. (Shae Hammond\/Bay Area News Group)\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI think my teammates found me at the right time and they were hitting my pocket,\u201d Sowah said. \u201cMy job is to knock it down. I was glad I could do that for them. It was super fun being out there.\u201d<\/p>\n

With a need at backup point guard, Sowah has now entered the race for a potential roster spot or one of the two developmental contracts the Valkyries have. Though she does have some questions defensively, she can be a solid option to add more shooting to a team that looks poised to make firing from beyond the arc one of its key principles.\u00a0<\/p>\n

3s, 3s and more 3s<\/p>\n

Even without sharpshooters Zandalasini and Rupert, the Valkyries shot the lights out on Saturday night.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Golden State finished making 15-of-33 3-pointers with Burton, Sowah and Kate Martin each making more than one. All of Golden State\u2019s 3s were made either in the corners or on the wings.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we\u2019re always going to be looking to be aggressive,\u201d Burton said of the team\u2019s run-and-gun style of play. \u201cI definitely think we\u2019re also looking to be intentional about getting to the paint and getting 3s up.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Burton was 4-for-7 from beyond the arc on Friday night, knocking down multiple shots off the dribble and in spot-up opportunities.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Chen shines in bigger role<\/p>\n

At one point in the second half, Valkyries point guard Kaitlyn Chen asked for a breather.<\/p>\n

Nakase respectfully told her no.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe told the players ahead of time that (Veronica Burton) wasn\u2019t going to play in the second half, so Kaitlyn had to take the whole second half,\u201d Nakase said. \u201cHer ability to push through \u2013 that\u2019s what I like to see sometimes, especially when a player is really uncomfortable. How are they going to respond? \u2026 Her confidence, I think, grew at that point.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"GoldenGolden State Valkyries’ Kaitlyn Chen (2) takes a shot against Seattle Storm’s Jade Melbourne (5) in the first half at Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Saturday, April 25, 2026. (Shae Hammond\/Bay Area News Group)\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s clear Chen has worked hard in the offseason to be more comfortable running a unit. The former Connecticut standout scored 11 points and had a plus-minus rating of +7 across 28 minutes of play.\u00a0<\/p>\n

She has added more finishes to her arsenal, using a running hook shot multiple times to score against bigger defenders at the rim.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI know she had this in her last year too, but it\u2019s her rookie season and there\u2019s learning curves,\u201d Burton said of Chen. \u201cThis offseason, she\u2019s been here getting better. I think she\u2019s an offensive threat at all three levels. She\u2019s very difficult to guard, and so I\u2019m really excited about Kaitlyn, and I think she\u2019ll have a lot to show this season.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

What\u2019s next?\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Valkyries have almost two weeks of training camp remaining before their season opener at Seattle on May 8.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Golden State will wait on players to return from international commitments, and will need to cut its roster down to 12 guaranteed spots and hand out its two developmental contracts shortly before the season opener.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Saturday\u2019s game was a chance for players like Sowah to put themselves in the mix to make the roster. Additionally, rookies Marta Suarez and Ashlon Jackson were solid in the minutes they had and could make a push for a roster spot.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Nakase said she\u2019s excited to plan out the next weeks of practice.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a lot to learn because we obviously didn\u2019t play our best,\u201d Nakase said. \u201cI could be really creative and I could create any type of chaos that I want. \u2026 That\u2019s where the creativity of my staff comes in and this is where we get to really push some buttons. We\u2019re going into our second year with some of these players, and so we\u2019re going to make things very uncomfortable for them, which is really fun.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SAN FRANCISCO \u2014 The vibes were back.\u00a0 It was only a preseason game, but another sold-out crowd arrived…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":607616,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[10832,402,3805,2356,10833,1915,4804,10831,14059,2558,5415,36930,10834,10835,5413,10836,10837,5284,10838,10839,10840,10841,10842,5414,10843,99,434],"class_list":{"0":"post-607615","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wnba","8":"tag-alameda-county","9":"tag-basketball","10":"tag-bay-area","11":"tag-california","12":"tag-contra-costa-county","13":"tag-east-bay","14":"tag-golden-state-valkyries","15":"tag-inside-sports","16":"tag-lake-county","17":"tag-latest-headlines","18":"tag-marin-county","19":"tag-mendocino-county","20":"tag-monterey-county","21":"tag-napa-county","22":"tag-north-bay","23":"tag-peninsula","24":"tag-san-benito-county","25":"tag-san-francisco","26":"tag-san-francisco-county","27":"tag-san-mateo-county","28":"tag-santa-clara-county","29":"tag-santa-cruz-county","30":"tag-solano-county","31":"tag-sonoma-county","32":"tag-south-bay","33":"tag-sports","34":"tag-wnba"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/607615","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=607615"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/607615\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/607616"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=607615"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=607615"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=607615"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}