Enjoying their second sport since dropping All-Star Kayla Thornton to a season-ending knee harm, Golden State nonetheless had an opportunity to claw again to .500 on Sunday.
Going through the Solar, the crew with by far the worst document within the WNBA, the Valkyries performed arguably their worst sport of the season after flying in to Connecticut at 9 a.m. native time on Saturday and tipping off at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
Coming off a rousing 86-76 residence victory over the Paige Bueckers-led Dallas Wings on Friday, the guests’ street woes continued as Connecticut rolled previous Golden State 95-64 within the first sport of the Valkyries’ five-game journey.
“I simply need to do a greater job of organizing today in between, and giving them extra path on how today works out,” Golden State coach Natalie Nakase mentioned, noting that she continues to be studying tips on how to navigate the WNBA schedule as a head coach.
The Valkyries (11-13) are 8-4 at Chase Heart, however dropped to 3-9 on the street.
In opposition to the Solar (4-20), the offense was a large number, committing 24 turnovers that led to 34 Solar factors. Connecticut outscored Golden State 14-2 on the fastbreak.
“We realized what to not do, and tips on how to keep collectively when issues hit the fan,” Valkyries guard Veronica Burton mentioned. “However that is one I believe we’ve obtained to scrap.”
Iliana Rupert, enjoying in her second sport with the crew since arriving from France, led the Valkyries with 13 factors and 4 rebounds.
In the meantime, .4 Suns gamers scored in double figures, with residing legend Tina Charles scoring 24 and grabbing six rebounds in simply 19 minutes. Marina Mabrey and Bria Hartley every scored 15.
The Solar, which had misplaced 14 of its earlier 15 video games heading into Sunday, led 49-33 on the half.
The Valkyries fell a half-game behind the Aces for the eighth and ultimate playoff spot, and can attempt to get again within the winner’s column towards Atlanta on Tuesday.
Zoning out
The Valkyries have been an elite protection all season, coming into Sunday’s sport ranked No. 3 in factors allowed per sport (78 ppg) and first in opponents’ FG% (40.2%).
That shot-stopping prowess didn’t present up within the Northeast as Golden State was picked aside by a Solar squad that was backside of the league in factors per sport (73.3).
The Solar have been 7 of 17 from 3-point distance within the first half, with Bria Hartley placing in 3 of 4 within the first 20 minutes.
The worst crew within the league eviscerated Natalie Nakase’s vaunted zone, forcing the Coach of the 12 months frontrunner to scrap it within the second half.
“I’ll give Connecticut credit score, as a result of they performed actually exhausting as we speak and with loads of power, and we simply had zero,” Nakase mentioned. “It wasn’t our day. We’re lacking free throws, layups, and that’s simply out of character.”
The Valkyries missed Thornton, who spent the primary half of the season guarding the opposite crew’s high participant and being an elite help-side defender. Monique Billings additionally didn’t play.
Man-to-man hardly labored a lot better, as Golden State trailing by 23 simply 4 minutes into the third quarter.
Thornton-less ahead rotation
Earlier within the week, Nakase made it clear that no particular person participant on the Valkyries could be anticipated to interchange the offensive manufacturing of Thornton, the crew’s lone All-Star who will miss the remainder of the season due to a knee harm.
Cecilia Zandalasini, Janelle Salaun and Laeticia Amihere cut up time on the ahead spot. Salaun, the crew’s high shot-creator from the wing, put in 9 factors.
However Zandalasini and Amihere have been much less prolific. Amihere was 1 of seven, and Zandalasini took only one shot.
Martin is cash
Wing Kate Martin didn’t play towards Dallas on Friday, however the second-year Iowa product remained prepared for her second towards Connecticut.
On a day when the Valkyries have been caught in impartial, her helter-skelter play-style and willingness to bomb away from deep was one of many crew’s few shiny spots. She subbed in for the primary time within the second quarter and shortly made two 3-pointers.
Martin, who put in 9 factors, simply missed out on scoring in double-figures for the eighth time this season.
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