Valkyries Announce Roster Decision, Waive Rookie Center on Monday

The Golden State Valkyries became the only first-year expansion team in WNBA history to clinch a playoff berth with Friday’s 84-80 win over the Chicago Sky. Now it appears the team will receive reinforcement in the form of a crucial player returning from injury, although the Valkyries were forced to waive a newly acquired center in a corresponding move.

Ahead of the Valkyries’ game at Seattle on Tuesday night, the team announced that it was activating forward Cecilia Zandalasini and assigning her a questionable designation for Golden State’s upcoming game. Zandalasini has missed the last eight contests with a calf injury. Zandalasini spent the 2024 season with the Minnesota Lynx after a brief stint with the franchise from 2017 to 2018.

Zandalasini spent the six years between Lynx stints solely in Europe, playing for Turkish club Fehnerbahce from 2018 to 2021 and Italian club Virtus Bologna from 2021 to 2024. Zandalasini was a two-time winner of the Turkish Cup and Turkish Super League, respectively, and with Bologna she won the Italian SuperCup in 2023.

The Lynx left Zandalasini unprotected in the expansion draft, allowing Natalie Nakase and the Valkyries to acquire her services after she averaged career highs in minutes per game (16.5) and points per game (5.7). In 40 appearances with Golden State this season, Zandalasini has averaged 4.6 points on a career-high 45.3 percent shooting from the field.

In a move corresponding to Zandalasini’s reactivation, the Valkyries waived rookie center Elizabeth Kitley, who was signed to a seven-day hardship contract just five days ago. Kitley was drafted with the No. 24 overall pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft by the Las Vegas Aces, but missed what would have been her initial rookie season with a torn ACL that she suffered during her senior season with Virginia Tech.

Kitley was a standout at Virginia Tech, winning three consecutive ACC Player of the Year awards from 2022 to 2024 while being named first-team All-ACC in all four seasons of her collegiate career. Kitley was also a two-time AP and USBWA second-team All-American and a one-time member of the third-team. In honor of her career at Virginia Tech, Kitley had her No. 33 retired by the program.

The Valkyries and Storm are set to tip off at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT on Tuesday at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle. The Storm are still looking to clinch their playoff berth with two games left on the schedule as they trail the current No. 6 seed Valkyries by 1.5 games, meaning Tuesday could prove to be an important contest between Golden State and Seattle.

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