Second Quarter Run Propels Valkyries Over Liberty as Team Wins Fourth Straight Game

The Golden State Valkyries extended their winning streak to four games, defeating the New York Liberty 66-58 at Chase Center on Tuesday night.

After trailing 21-19 in the second quarter, the Valkyries went on a 21-6 run to turn a two-point deficit into a 15-point lead, before going into halftime with a 14-point advantage, which the Valkyries were able to hold for the whole second half.

“I think we’re continuing to climb,” Natalie Nakase said postgame. I think our communication has been elite over the last three games, and I think when we’re communicating and we’re extending the game plan, we’re pretty dangerous, so credit to the coaching staff.

“It was Landon’s (Tatum) scout,  and then just credit to our players for believing, trusting, and executing. That was a very tough team, very talented, so we knew we couldn’t make any mistakes on the defensive end. No room for error tonight.”

Temi Fágbénlé scored a team-high 16 points in the victory, with Kate Martin (11 PTS), Janelle Salaün (10 PTS) and Kaila Charles (10 PTS) all scoring in double figures. Breanna Stewart and Natasha Cloud scored a combined 38 of the Liberty’s 58 points in the contest, scoring 19 points each.

BILLINGS RETURNSMonique Billings made her first appearance for the Valkyries since July 29, missing the team’s past 14 games due to an ankle injury. Billings checked in to the game in the first quarter with a roaring ovation from the Chase Center crowd.

“Her energy. You could feel it, you could feel her energy her physicality. I think inside defending without fouling was really good; and just her vocal like leadership,” Nakase said of Billings. “You can hear calling out the coverages so it’s just nice to have the communication from behind because then you can feel good. If you know that the  communications coming from behind you could almost press up even more into the ball.

“Mo brings so much to us, we’re really glad to have her back; and she looks great. That’s what I was saying, is you don’t want to rush players back. You want to make sure they’re confident and they’re ready. So credit to everyone who helped Mo get back to where she is.”

Billings finished the game with five points in 20 minutes of action.

BURTON’S DIMESVeronica Burton recorded nine assists in the contest, the third time in four games she has recorded at least nine assists.

Burton did not have her best shooting night of the season (1-for-9), but was able to impact the game in different ways, finding open teammates and recording a game-high nine rebounds to go along with two steals.

TEMI STARTS THE SCORINGTemi Fágbénlé got the Valkyries offense off to a fast start on Tuesday, scoring six of the team’s first eight points. Fágbénlé made her first three field goal attempts of the rim, showing off her scoring versatility. Her first bucket came on a a 22-foot catch-and-shoot jumper before catching a ball in the post after getting a mismatch on Natasha Cloud and finishing at the rim. She then caught the ball above the 3-point line and took Jonquel Jones off the dribble and hit a contested lay-up.

Fágbénlé scored a team-high 16 points on 7-for-10 shooting, grabbing five rebounds in the win.

MARTIN’S FOUR-POINT PLAYKate Martin delivered one of the highlight plays of the night, connecting on a 4-point play midway through the second quarter. Martin took a Veronica Burton pass and fired off a three as she absorbed contact from Natasha Cloud.

Martin scored a bench-high 11 points on the night, connecting on three 3-pointers in the game.

KAILA’S OFFENSIVE SPARKSince making her first start for the Valkyries on Aug. 24, Kaila Charles has been one of the most productive first quarter scorers in the league, averaging the sixth most first quarter points in the WNBA. On Tuesday, she recorded 10 points on an efficient 4-for-6 shooting.

UP NEXTWith four games left in the regular season, the Valkyries will play their final two home games at Chase Center, beginning with the Dallas Wings on Thursday (7 p.m.; KPIX+ (Bay Area)) before hosting the Minnesota Lynx on Saturday in their home finale (5:30 p.m.; KPIX+ (Bay Area), KION (Monterey)).