The Golden State Valkyries continue their road trip Friday night as they face the Dallas Wings at American Airlines Center. Tipoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. PT (9:30 p.m. ET) on ION. Golden State enters the matchup with a 21-9 record, while Dallas is 19-12. Friday marks Golden State’s 31st game of the regular season and its 14th road contest.
The Valkyries have won two straight games after defeating the Toronto Tempo 96-79 on Aug. 2 and 92-81 on Aug. 4. Golden State finished July with a 6-2 record and has opened August 2-0.
Friday is the second of three meetings between the Valkyries and Wings this season. Golden State won the first matchup, 91-80, on June 17 at Chase Center and has won four straight games in the all-time series. The teams will meet again on Aug. 17 in San Francisco.
In the first meeting, Gabby Williams led the Valkyries with 25 points, while Kaitlyn Chen scored 15 points off the bench against her former UConn teammates. Veronica Burton added 11 points, eight rebounds and five assists, Kayla Thornton pulled down 11 rebounds, and Janelle Salaün and Tiffany Hayes combined for 22 points off the bench. Golden State overcame a 26-17 first-quarter deficit by holding Dallas to seven points in the second quarter to take a halftime lead before pulling away for the victory.
Golden State enters the game allowing a league-low 77.1 points per game. The Valkyries have limited opponents to 75.6 points per game over their last 10 contests and have held opponents to 70 points or fewer nine times this season, including five times over the last 12 games. They are also allowing a league-low 34.9 first-half points per game and just 16.1 points in the second quarter.
The Valkyries also lead the WNBA in bench scoring at 35.9 points per game and rank first in made three-pointers per game (10.8). Janelle Salaün leads all reserves with 13.4 points per game and has made a league-record 77 three-pointers by a reserve this season.
Veronica Burton leads Golden State with 5.6 assists per game and ranks fifth in the WNBA with a 3.48 assist-to-turnover ratio. The Valkyries are 14-1 this season when Burton records six or more assists and 15-2 when they finish with more assists than their opponent.
Defensively, Kiah Stokes ranks second in the WNBA with 1.9 blocks per game and leads all centers with a 2.27 assist-to-turnover ratio. Laeticia Amihere ranks sixth in the league in defensive rating, helping Golden State allow the fewest points in the paint in the WNBA at 32.7 per game.
Statistically, Dallas enters averaging 89.3 points per game compared to 82.9 for Golden State. The Wings average 34.0 rebounds and 22.3 assists per game, while the Valkyries are allowing 77.1 points per contest and averaging 7.6 steals and 4.07 blocks per game.
Golden State lists Iliana Rupert as unavailable due to pregnancy.
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