Golden State 63, Chicago 69
By the Numbers
- The Valkyries drew another sellout crowd of 18,063, their 24th consecutive regular-season sellout.
- Gabby Williams led the team with 18 points to go with five rebounds.
- Veronica Burton had 16 points and was a perfect 4-4 from the line.
- Kiah Stokes led all players with 11 rebounds, her most as a Valkyrie, and scored seven points. Stokes also had five blocks, the most by any WNBA player in a game this season.
- Kaila Charles nearly had a double-double with nine points and nine rebounds, going 4-9 (44.4 percent) from the field.
- Golden State held the Sky to just 24 points in the first half on 10-37 (27.0 percent) shooting and 0-11 from three. It’s the fewest points allowed in any half by a team this season.
Quotes
HEAD COACH NATALIE NAKASE:
ON KIAH STOKES:
“That's who she is. That's who he has been since the times I was with her in Vegas. She is a force. Her defense is top notch. But then offensively, we knew if we attacked (Kamilla) Cardoza in a drop situation, that she was going to be open, and she definitely took it to her. So it was just really good to see that type of movement that we're able to get, and then Kiah finishing on the other end. So I thought she did a fantastic job on both ends, and I thought she actually brought another layer of defense that we can mix in a couple of different coverages.”
ON CHICAGO’S DEFENSE:
“The physicality for the Sky, their defense was great. I just felt the on-ball pressure, they're definitely trying to take away the paint for us to punch paint and then obviously sprout threes...We are a defensive team, so I put this one on me. I have to make sure that they understand who we are, and I have to maintain and punch more into our discipline and the layers of our defense, that has to be there. We can't just rely on getting Ballhalla all excited in terms of our shooting.”
ON HOW THE TEAM WILL PREPARE THIS UPCOMING WEEK:
“Just seeing some of the things that we struggled with tonight, making sure we practice those. But number one, they get a blackout day [tomorrow]. This is our first blackout day since we started. I did a lot the last week, and this is on me when I need to rest them, and then when I need to push them in practice. I'm taking notes on how I did that, and sometimes I get too excited, so I have to be very smart. I also told them that you guys have to be honest with me as well. So it's a great week for us to push the buttons, but also be really direct on how we could work on our weaknesses from this game.”
GOLDEN STATE GUARDS VERONICA BURTON AND GABBY WILLIAMS
ON KIAH STOKES’ PERFORMANCE:
Williams: “She does all the little things and the big things. Her presence in the key on defense is incredible. Her ability to get her hands on the ball, tip the ball out when she can't rebound, but just do all those things that don't necessarily show up on the stat sheet. She's a really, really smart player on defense and on offense, and she brought us a lot of good things tonight.”
Up Next: Golden State hits the road to take on New York on Thursday, May 21 at 5 p.m. PT, airing on Prime Video and The Audacy App.
