Can the Valkyries keep shocking the WNBA? Big win brings the playoff race into focus

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It’s not often that a first-year expansion franchise finds itself in a must-win situation — and even less often that it’s expected to deliver in one. But expectations have never quite captured the full picture of what the Golden State Valkyries are building. 

The Valkyries’ 72-59 win over the Los Angeles Sparks wasn’t just about snapping the momentum of a team with 10 wins in 12 games or adjusting against a group they hadn’t faced since early June — a stretch marked by injuries, lineup reshuffling, and shifting chemistry for both squads. This one carried weight. It's why point guard Veronica Burton called Saturday's matchup a “playoff-indicating game.”

“That was a series-determining game, and that was huge for us,” Burton said after the win. 

As less than a third of the season remains, the Valkyries made a statement: their playoff push is no fluke — and their survival instincts can and will kick in.

Saturday night’s 13-point win — the Valkyries’ largest margin of victory since a 19-point blowout of Indiana in early July — was a clear showcase of just how much upside the team has when it plays a connected style on both ends of the floor. 

The ball movement, spacing, and tempo were night-and-day compared to Wednesday’s loss to the Aces, when the offense stalled out and finished with a season-low nine assists. But in the must-win matchup with the Sparks, Golden State turned around to record 20 assists on 27 made field goals and never trailed beyond the opening two minutes. 

A trend in all of their recent wins, the Valkyries’ perimeter shooting was dialed in from the start — they connected on 12 triples as a team for the evening. Cecilia Zandalasini set the tone early, going 4-for-5 from three-point range in the first half, and was nearly automatic on the game, too, going 5-of-7 from the field. The Italian sharpshooter, dubbed “a sniper” by coach Natalie Nakase for her 38.5% shooting from beyond the arc, has emerged as a go-to option in clutch moments and was the catalyst in Saturday’s strong start. 

“Cici is one of the most steady players I think I’ve ever played,” Burton said postgame. “Just to see the ball go in early gives us all the confidence, it gives Cici the confidence, but I think we all feel a sense of relief when Cici is hot.” 

Burton, who finished with a game-high 16 points, added two top-of-the-key threes of her own to the mix. She also dished out five assists in directing the Valkyries’ offensive rhythm, but of equal importance was her defensive performance. Owning the majority of the Kelsey Plum assignment, she held the All-Star — who averages 20.4 points per game (third in league) — to four points on 1-of-9 shooting, her lowest scoring output of the season by a wide margin. Burton’s on-ball pressure disrupted Plum from the opening tip, but she credited the quality team effort, for a group that “hangs its hat” on the defensive end, in neutralizing one of the league’s top scorers. 

“I was guarding her a lot, but I never felt like I was on an island,” Burton said. “I knew my teammates had my back if she was driving, I knew someone was going to be there in the paint to help, every screen was called out, so it was a really well-connected team defense.”

Anchored by defensive toughness, the Valkyries’ offense looked cohesive and purposeful. When it wasn’t the drive-and-kick action generating open looks from deep, it was Tiffany Hayes attacking downhill or Temi Fagbenle carving out space on the low block and finishing through contact. With the final third of the season ahead, that kind of balance and fluidity — as opposed to one-dimensional perimeter shooting — could be the difference-maker with every game now carrying the weight of playoff implications.

The WNBA trade deadline came and went Thursday at noon, and the Valkyries opted to stand pat. Nakase told reporters that this current roster is “the 12 most connected players” that they’ve had this season — through a revolving door of 19 players in the face of EuroBasket departures and injuries. But, through all the changes, the first-year head coach has been vocal about the need for expanded WNBA rosters since even before the season tipped off. And the reasons for that call have only multiplied — the re-signing of Kaila Charles to a second hardship contract in Kayla Thornton and Monique Billings’ absence, the challenge of waiving Julie Vanloo (who returned on Saturday with the Sparks) following a post-EuroBasket roster crunch, and the fatigue that's led to wear-and-tear produced by a compact schedule with demanding travel. 

“If we want to have a great league and we want to see the best of the best, then they have to be healthy, and right now that’s not the case,” Nakase said at practice on Friday. “A lot of them are sitting in street clothes on the bench, so how can we make this make sense?”

While Nakase has been adamant that there are many athletes floating in and out of the WNBA that deserve a roster spot, Charles has lived through the experience. 

“This is not the first time that this has happened to me, so with time and experience you understand that some of it is out of your control and it's a business,” Charles, after signing the fourth hardship contract of her professional career, said. “I’ve been cut for multiple different reasons, but I keep coming back for a reason: because I can play in this league.”

Charles appeared in 17 games for Dallas earlier this season before being waived. She signed a seven-day contract with the Valkyries on the morning of their game in Chicago last week — and played 17 minutes that very night. Despite only learning Golden State’s offense last week, she has quickly made her way into the rotation, averaging 18.8 minutes across four games. But for now, her hardship contract is temporary, and Golden State could be forced to make a roster move involving a mainstay if it hopes to keep Charles around for the rest of the season.

The WNBA is one of the most competitive, exclusive professional leagues to break into, with only 156 total roster spots across 13 teams. That number is set to grow by 60 by 2030 with the addition of several new expansion franchises. Still, league and player representatives are expected to push for more immediate roster relief in the next iteration of the WNBPA’s collective bargaining agreement, which is up for renewal and revision by Oct. 31 of this year. 

Back at .500, the Valkyries are still holding onto the eighth-place spot in the league, which leaves them in a coveted playoff position. But, with 14 games remaining in their inaugural season, a lot can shift — and very quickly at that.

“We don’t have a lot of games left, so we have to come in every night with a playoff mentality because every game is important for our standings and we know that,” Zandalasini said.

Golden State’s win on Saturday night pushed the team one spot ahead of the ninth-ranked Sparks (14-16) in the standings, and gave them the season-series tiebreaker (3-1) should the two teams finish with identical records. Fortunately for the Valkyries, they now have a meaningful edge in what has become a tightly contested playoff race. 

But if recent trends are any indication, the bottom half of the standings are nowhere near stable. Just two weeks ago, the Mystics were sitting in seventh — they’ve since slipped to tenth. Seattle, meanwhile, has dropped four consecutive games and now sits just half a game ahead of the Valkyries. The gap between five and ten is only four games, which is a margin that could shrink or shift dramatically with even just one week’s worth of results. 

Every win carries outsized weight. Tiebreakers, too, could be decisive down the stretch. And Golden State holds two (over Los Angeles and Indiana, which could slide back due to recent injuries). Two weeks ago, the Valkyries saw themselves run out of the gym by last-place Connecticut. Now, they face the Sun again on Monday at Chase Center. 

In a much sharper performance than their disjointed back-to-back losses to the Aces, Golden State showed real signs of resilience — the organization’s key buzz word this season — against the Sparks. And in the eight games since All-Star Kayla Thornton was sidelined with a season-ending injury, the Valkyries have responded with a collective effort, with different players stepping up to fill the void, both individually and as a unit. So, the margin for error may be razor thin, but the path to a postseason berth is still very much alive.