Valkyries 76, Liberty 67

Golden State 76, New York 67

By the Numbers

• The Valkyries drew their 36th-consecutive sellout with 18,064 fans. Golden State has sold out every regular-season game in the team’s history.
• Kaila Charles tied her season high with 13 points to lead the Valkyries in scoring on 6-12 (50.0 percent) shooting.
• Veronica Burton posted team highs with eight assists and six rebounds, and finished with eight points and zero turnovers. It’s Burton’s seventh career game with eight or more assists and no turnovers.
• Cecilia Zandalasini scored 10 points, and was a perfect three-for-three from the free throw line.
• Kayla Thornton added 11 points on 4-7 (57.1 percent) from the floor and had four rebounds.
• Janelle Salaün scored 10 points in 14 minutes of action.
• Kaitlyn Chen shot 60 percent (3-5) for eight points.
• The Valkyries only committed eight turnovers while forcing 12 Liberty turnovers, generating 15 points off turnovers.
• Golden State limited New York to just 28 first-half points and 67 total, both of which are season lows. It’s the sixth game this season the Valkyries have held their opponent to 70 or fewer points.
• The Liberty never led in the contest.

Quotes

HEAD COACH NATALIE NAKASE:

ON THE DEFENSIVE EFFORT:

“Holding [New York] to 15 in the first [quarter] and 14 in the second [quarter] showed that you still always want to consistently fight each quarter, so I think with attention to detail, they did a great job punching with that effort. We talked about emptying the tank, so I think we did a great job with that, and then I think the communication was on par tonight in terms of covering for each other. Sometimes the coverage might have slipped, but we covered for each other.”

ON WINNING STREAK:

“We’re taking steps forward in terms of consistency. That was our biggest message from every game from Atlanta, to Atlanta, to New York, was can we consistently execute on both ends for four quarters, and I think you know that challenge has been met. You can see that. You can kind of feel it too, and I think every time our communication actually gets better and better each quarter. So, moving in the right direction for us and continuing to just focus on us.”

ON THE PREPARATION:

“It's understanding and studying the film, their strengths, and whether it's within a play that they score on, or is it just their skill set. So we make sure we cover both. We talk about it, and then [it goes back to] rotating into our deep bench. There's no drop off from a V [Veronica Burton] matchup to then a Kai [Kaila Charles] to a Tip [Tiffany] Hayes, then we're throwing Gabby [Williams] on them, so being able to utilize so many guards, and then you got Kiah [Stokes], you got LA, [Laeticia Amihere], you got KT [Kayla Thornton], you got Ja [Janelle Salaün]. That’s a lot of players that play with a lot of heart and hustle.”

GOLDEN STATE GUARDS KAILA CHARLES AND VERONICA BURTON

ON TONIGHT’S DEFENSE:

Burton: “I just feel as though we were really connected. When you hold a team like [New York] in two of their quarters to 15 or below, that's a really good defensive game, and we just covered for each other. I think that's been a big thing that we've been talking about, is we have a game plan, and we try to execute it to the best of our abilities. But if we mess something up we cover for each other, and we communicate, and we trust each other. So, I’m really proud of our defensive effort tonight, and I just felt like we brought it every single quarter.”

ON THREE-STRAIGHT WINS:

Charles: “I think it just speaks to our toughness and our resilience, especially when we're on the same page. That was our biggest thing coming into this three-game stretch, being on the same page, being connected, and it showed that when we are we're a really great team…We have a long road game stretch with these wins on our shoulders, so we're just going to continue to build on these moments.”

ON THE TEAM’S DEPTH:

Burton: “Anyone on our team can be a starter…We genuinely have that trust and joy for whoever is on the floor, where whoever's hot on the floor, we're gonna find them…It makes our job so much easier. Everyone is a threat, and so you have to respect every single player on this team…And I think that's just a fun way to play basketball. Whoever subs in, you trust them just as much as whoever subbed out, so it's just a fun brand of basketball.”

Up Next: The Valkyries visit Atlanta on Saturday, July 4, at 1PM PT. exclusively on CBS and the Audacy App.