Valkyries Rally From 16 Down to Stun Sparks, Lock Up No. 2 Seed

The Golden State Valkyries picked the right night to write a new chapter in the franchise record book.

Down 16 points late in the third quarter, Golden State stormed back to beat the Los Angeles Sparks 76-75 Thursday night at Crypto.com Arena in front of 15,965 fans. It was the largest comeback in franchise history, and it sealed the No. 2 seed in the WNBA playoffs for the Valkyries (32-12), who will face No. 7 seed Dallas in the first round.

Kaitlyn Chen was the spark. After going scoreless in the first half, Chen poured in 18 points in the second half, including 14 in the fourth quarter alone. She shot 8-of-12 from the field and added three rebounds, two assists and a steal.

“It starts with my teammates,” Chen said. “It’s V telling me that I can score when I want. I feel like that’s the kind of confidence that I need, and just seeing a few go in always helps.”

Golden State led 15-13 after the first quarter, but Los Angeles took over in the second, outscoring the Valkyries 22-11 and shooting nearly 53 percent from the field to take a 35-26 lead into halftime. The Sparks pushed the margin to 16 at 53-37 with three minutes left in the third quarter behind a flurry of threes from Rae Burrell.

The Valkyries chipped away, cutting it to 55-46 heading into the fourth, but the Sparks still held a 72-62 lead with just over three minutes to play. That’s when Golden State closed on a 14-0 run.

Chen started it with an and-one. Then Gabby Williams took over. Williams hit a three from 28 feet to make it 72-68, came up with a steal and finished a fast-break layup to pull within two, then buried a go-ahead three with 20 seconds left to put Golden State up 73-72. Williams scored eight points in the fourth quarter on a perfect 3-of-3 shooting.

A technical foul on the Sparks with 10.8 seconds left sent Kayla Thornton to the line, and she went a perfect 3-for-3 in the closing seconds to push the lead to 76-72. Burrell’s three with 0.4 seconds remaining made it a one-point final.

Golden State won the fourth quarter 30-20, shooting 55.6 percent from the field and 6-for-6 from the free-throw line.

“I told them I was really proud of them,” head coach Natalie Nakase said. “Obviously, [we] didn’t get the greatest start… I thought V came out punching first, then Kaitlyn started punching again, and then we relied on our defense. Gabby came in, turnover. She got a steal, another steal. Hit two big threes, and then Kiah Stokes, our anchor, our safety net.”

Veronica Burton finished with 17 points and a team-high five assists, shooting 5-of-12 from the field and 6-of-6 from the line. Eight of her points came in the third quarter as she led the initial charge.

Kiah Stokes grabbed a season-high 12 rebounds, six of them in the opening six minutes, and added seven points, three assists and a steal. Williams finished with 14 points on 6-of-14 shooting, including 2-of-3 from deep, in 19:43.

Janelle Salaün added six points and five rebounds in 13 minutes as Golden State’s bench outscored Los Angeles’ reserves 33-16. The Valkyries also won the battle in the paint, 42-32.

For the Sparks (16-28), Nneka Ogwumike posted 17 points and 15 rebounds, while Burrell and Dearica Hamby each scored 15.

For the Valkyries, the win was as much about the lesson as the result.

“We still [have] to come out better, and we can’t let it get to that,” Burton said. “But it is the reality of what playoffs are going to be. You’re not going to play perfectly… It’s a whole game, and for us to have that fight and the resilience that we showed, that’s what we need in the playoffs.”

Chen echoed that. “We knew we weren’t gonna win it [with] one miraculous play,” she said. “So we sort of just took it one play at a time. We really fought hard tonight, and we’re definitely going to need that in the playoffs.”

Nakase pointed to the halftime adjustment as the turning point. “In the second half, I was a lot happier,” she said. “Coaches did a great job at halftime, getting into them, and then they responded, and that’s the thing is how we respond, and we’re not overreacting.”

The Valkyries host the Dallas Wings in their first playoff matchup Sunday, Sept. 27, at Chase Center. Tip time and broadcast information will be announced Friday.