Golden State 73, Las Vegas 92
By the Numbers
- Cecilia Zandalasini led Golden State in scoring with 12 points, shooting 6-for-9 (66.7 percent) from the field.
- Kaitlyn Chen added 11 points and two assists off the bench.
- Gabby Williams scored 10 points, marking her seventh-straight game in double digits.
- Laeticia Amihere finished with 10 points, going 2-for-2 on three-point shots and 2-for-2 from the free throw line.
- Kaila Charles contributed seven points and four rebounds.
- Kayla Thornton stole a team-high five rebounds, including two offensive rebounds.
- Kiah Stokes finished with a team-high three assists and added two steals.
- Nadia Fingall scored her first-ever points with two and a rebound in the final minutes of tonight’s matchup.
Quotes
HEAD COACH NATALIE NAKASE:
ON TODAY’S LOSS:
“When you have four games in seven days, they maximize their efforts in the first two and even in the third one. So for me it's explaining to them that the shortest stints are going to happen, but then how can you guys be very impactful in those shorter stints…I was very proud of Ceci [Cecilia Zandalasini], the way she started us off. She got to her spots and she executed in terms of what we were looking for. I thought Gabby [Gabby Williams] got to her spots, and then Tip [Tiffany Hayes] came in, and she gave us the composure…So it’s hard to take away from a loss, but to see that growth between those three, I thought was really impressive going up against the Aces’ defense.”
ON TAKEAWAYS FROM TODAY:
“I loved Ja’s [Janelle Salaün] fight. I thought Ja’s fight tonight didn't quit. She even made a play where we made an adjustment at halftime and she executed, passed it right to LA [Laeticia Amihere], and LA knocked it down. So I'm seeing little improvements in terms of what we can adjust on the fly, and if they can execute it…We're taking a lot from this. I thought Kaitlyn [Kaitlyn Chen] got to the rim whenever she wanted…I loved Nadia [Nadia Fingall] coming off the bench, that rebound that she got, and then making a selfless play…The stay-ready group did a great job, and I thought Justé [Justé Jocyté] executed a play that we designed, so seeing the positives in a loss.”
ON JUSTÉ JOCYTÉ TODAY:
“I thought she was really composed. I thought she was able to pick apart the pick-and-rolls when she was in there. We're really looking for the physicality and the rebounding piece, which I think she's improved on. We've been focusing on that a lot in the stay-ready games, so having this opportunity to get in there to fight and to battle against really great players, I thought that was a positive.”
GOLDEN STATE FORWARD CECILIA ZANDALASINI AND GUARD KAITLYN CHEN:
ON THE SECOND QUARTER:
Zandalasini: “They went on a run. We weren't able to stop that, which we’ve got to be better, knowing that the game is long. They can have their runs as long as we have ours, so we can learn from this game for sure, because I think we can be way better than this.”
ON THE PREPARATION:
Chen: “I feel like we did a good job of bouncing back and preparing for each game. I feel like it's tough to play four games in seven days against really talented teams, so I think we grew a lot this week, and it's just building off of this and taking it on to next week.”
ON THE TAKEAWAYS:
Zandalasini: “We have to look at film for sure, [see] what we did wrong, what we can do better, but we have to flush it. We have a long season, [we have] a very good opening in front of us in Atlanta in a couple of days, so we're gonna learn from this by our mistakes and focusing on the next one. That's what we do, that's why we're here. We're here to practice, and if something is not going well, we will make sure that everybody is on the same page, and we will practice those things.”
Up Next: The Valkyries host Atlanta this Wednesday, June 24, at 7 PM PT on USA, KPIX+, KMAX, 95.7 The Game, and the Audacy App.
